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' V 

PHILOSOPHY . V\ 

- ''A 

^ ^.. V ■ 

OP THB _ ^ *.. 

* 

PLAN OF SALVATION. 


A BOOK FOR THE TIMES. 


BY 

AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 


WITH 

l-n Intrflbtttforg ^ssag 

B Y 

CALVIN E. STOWE, D.D. 

PBOTESSOR IIT AWDOVKB TQX0L06ICAL SXUIKABT. 


“ We desire to inrestigate the truth ; and not that alone, but the truth conjoined vith 
piety towards God." — Sadolxt. 


A NEW EDITION, 

WITH A SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER BY THE AUTHOR. 
> ) ^ • 

5 • 

» e o 

) » 


BOSTON: 

aOULD AND LINCOLN, 

59 WASHINGTON B T B X I T. 

NEW YORK : SHELDON, BLAKEMAN & CO. 
CINCINNATI: GEO. S. BLANCHARD. 

1856. 



J3r75, 


Eutered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by 
GOULD AND LINCOLN, 

In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the District of 
Massachusetts. 


In Excliange 

Duke 

MAY 7- 193< 


PTJBLISHERS’ ADVERTISEMENT 


^rO THE 

NEW AND ENLARGED EDITION. 


It is now more than twelve years since this work was first 
published. From the outset it met with a degree of public favor 
which the lapse of time has served only to confirm and extend. 
Year by year the sale has been large, constant, and increasing, and 
already twenty thousand copies have been disjKised of in this 
country alone. Besides this general popularity, it has attained the 
rare distinction of being adopted as a text book in some of our 
higher seminaries of learning. Seldom indeed has a treatise writ- 
ten only for the public at large been exalted to that peculiar 
preeminence. 

In Europe its success has been even more signal, if possible, than 
in this country. It has been honored with a place as a text book 
in the Theological Seminaries of the Free Ghurch of Scotland, and 
in other literary institutions abroad. It has been translated into 
^e Welsh, French, German, and Italian languages in Europe, and 
is now being translated* into Hindoostanee in Asia ; thus achieving 
a position in the literature of Christendom which perhaps no other 
American work upon theological subjects has gained. All this it 
has accomplished without a name and without vouchers, except 
those given voluntarily by reviewers and by readers interested in 
the work. 


( 3 ) 


PUBLISHERS* ADVERTISEMENT. 


A new and greatly improved edition is now offered to the pub- 
lic. The distinguishing feature of this edition is the addition of a 
Supplementary Chapter. The original w’ork was designed to 
meet the form of error prevalent at the period of its publication. 
But in the interval of years that has elapsed since, the form of error 
has somewhat changed. The necessity of a “ book-revelation ” is 
now denied. Infidels, disguised in the garb of Christian ministers, 
have stolen into the pulpit, and with much show of philosophy, 
have taught the people that man needs no revelation from without, 
inasmuch as the light within himself is all-sufficient for his gui- 
dance. The Bible is thus set at nought, and deprived of its divine 
authority. It is this “ latest form of infidelity” which the new 
chapter is designed to meet. By a strictly philosophical method, 
the author undertakes to demonstrate the necessity of a Written 
Revelation, His line of argument is entirely original, and while 
it leads to the same general conclusion, differs essentially from that 
so ingeniously developed in the “ Eclipse of Faith.” 

It will thus be perceived that the contents of this chapter make 
a distinct and important addition, to the book. For young men 
who are in danger of being misled by the sophistries of the New 
Infidelity, it will prove highly salutary ; and for that reason it is 
adapted to awaken fresh interest in those whose beneficence has 
heretofore been enlisted in promoting the circulation of the 
book. 


Boston, Nov. 1 , 1855 . 


( 4 ) 


EXTRACTS FROM NOTICES 


OF THE 

FIRST EDITION. 


F\om the Boston Recorder. 

It is always a pleasure to commend early and earnestly a work 
of solid merit like this — a work that blends so much of sound philo- 
sophical discussion, with deep experimental and spiritual knowledge 
of the vitalities of Christianity. Few volumes, indeed, have issued 
from the American press that bear the stamp of originality and pro- 
found thought so deeply imprinted on every page. It does not require 
the reading of the whole, nor even a large part of it, to warrant this 
opinion. It is the product of a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, 
though his modesty has withheld his name from the public. 

From the Presbyterian^ Philadelphia. 

We regard the whole performance as the effort of an enlightened and 
logical mind : it has freshness ; its style is classical ; it is not in the 
common-place routine of most modern books. If it does not present 
new ideas, it exhibits them under a new aspect. It is, in a word, a 
book that may be read with much profit by those who find themselves 
troubled with doubts about the truth of Divine Revelation. We have 
ourselves read it with more than ordinary interest, and we propose to 
give it a second perusal, which we are sure it will bear. 

From the Watchman of the Valley, Cincinnati, O. 

We have read this book with much interest. The train of thought 
is admirable, and clearly and vigorously expressed. 

The book will be read with profit by any one ; and we believe that 
no candid skeptic— and a few such there are — can read it without 
assenting to the correctness of the main positions defended, and, ton 
sequently, to the conclusion, that the Bible is the book of God. 

1 * 


IV 


From the American Biblical Repository. 

In some respects this is an extraordinary production. It is by an 
American Citizen, and published for the author. The edition is small, 
and pecuniary profit does not enter into his plan. 

In the progress of this discussion the reader will find many interest- 
ing thoughts, especially in those chapters which consider the Levitica. 
economy. The writer is evidently a scholar, and a reflecting, earnest 
inquirer after truth. 

. From the New England Puritan, Boston. 

It is logical both in its arrangement and in its reasonings. It is the 
work of a clear and vigorous thinker. It proposes to solve these two 
questions — Is Christianity true ? and What is true Christianity ? and 
that by the same mode of reasoning by which we prove the being of a 
God. It is dedicated to Dr. C banning ; and to the like of him wo 
would especially commend it. 

It is well worth the reading by all who wish to extend their views 
of the plan of salvation. 

From Zion's Herald and Wesleyan Journal, Boston. 

A Remarkable Book. — The notice which we gave of a late work 
entitled “ The Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation,” was from the pen 
of an accomplished and logical friend, into whose hand we placed it. 
We have since read it ourselves with a satisfaction which it would be 
difficult to express. It is an extraordinary work, presenting a most 
beautiful, perspicuous, and decisive course of reasoning. Its views are 
eminently original and plausible. We would recall our readers and 
brethren of the press to a farther examination of it. We know noth- 
ing of its origin, but are sure it has proceeded from a master mind. 

From the New York Evangelist. 

We have long been of the opinion that the Bible is its own and best 
vitness. This is conclusively shown in the book before us. It is 
styled “ Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation,” and merits the attention 
of those who are, or would be, philosophers indeed. It is designed for 
such as are disposed to think — to investigate seriously the claims of the 
Bible — to perceive understandingly the whyexid wherefore of that,reli- 
gious system which the sacred volume proposes to the belief of a world 
of sinners. Such will find it very difficult, if they follow our author, 
to arrest the progress of their own mind to the same convictions. 


V 


We have been much interested in his exposition of the “ Phi..osophy 
®f the Leviticcd dispensation.** In no other way than by such a dis- 
pensation, he endeavors to prove, could the human mind have been 
brought to receive the original idea of holiness, a practical conviction 
of the necessity of a holy life, and at length a dispensation so spiritual 
as that which is revealed in the gospel. No one can read this portion 
of the book without acquiring a deeper conviction of the far- caching 
design of that system of rites and sacrifices. 

i^om the Christian Watchman, Baptist, Boston. 

We can assure our readers that they will find it well worth readmg. 
It is systematic, logical, and philosophical. The part of it which 
relates to the Jewish history is highly valuable, as well as other por- 
tions which are less original in the general course of thought. We do 
not, of course, subscribe to every opinion in thus commending the book ; 
but its general tenor and spirit are such as commend it to a reflecting 
and discriminating mind. 


NOTICES TO THE SECOND EDITION. 


From the Boston Recorder. 

Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation. A book for the times. By an 
American citizen. 2d edition. 

This is an anonymous book, and has stood upon its own merits. It 
has been successful, however, in securing great favor, and almost 
unqualified commendation. The author avows himself to have been a 
skeptic ; but having been led to examine the Bible, he became thor- 
oughly convinced of the divine authority of Christianity. This work 
appears to have been written to convey to a friend, also a skeptic, the 
evidenirs which has satisfied the author’s own mind. The book is a 
forcibly written series of independent demonstrations, the results of 
which accumulate to the final conclusion, that Christianity, as taught 
by the interpretation and experience of evangelical Christians, is the 
true religion and the only religion possible to meet the spiritual wants 
of mankind 


VI 


From the Christian Intelligencer , N. York. 

The first edition of this work was published some time sinse. 
Though published anonymously, it soon won its way to public notice 
by the originality of the mode of discussion, and the vigor of thought 
displayed in it. The author was himself an infidel, but won his way 
from the snares of unbelief by a process of reasoning similar to the one 
employed in this volume. The first edition having been exhausted, 
this second edition is issued, and will no doubt meet with ready pat- 
ronage. It has been favorably noticed in many periodicals, and is con- 
sidered as one of the most original and valuable works of recent publi* 
cation. We shall hereafter recur to it. 

From the Presbyterian, Philadelphia. 

The first edition of the “ Plan of Salvation,” we read with much 
interest, and spoke highly of it as a useful book, written with great 
spirit and point. The call for a second edition is some evidence that 
i* is appreciated by the reading community. 

From the N. Y. Evangelist. 

We are gratified at the appearance of a second edition of this work, 
the first of which we most heartily and repeatedly commended to our 
readers. We regard it an argument for the divine origin of the Chris- 
tian religion, of unanswerable force and extraordinary interest. The 
lim of the argument is to prove that the religion of the Bible is neces- 
sarily the only religion possible which can meet the spiritual wants of 
men. This is proved by a lucid and triumphant reference to the ele- 
ments and influences of religion, their adaptation to the moral necessi- 
ties of the soul, and the practical effects which they produce. The 
author — now known to be Rev. James B. Walker, of Cincinnati — was 
himself a skeptic for years, unconvinced by the current arguments in 
defence of religion. Careful study of the Bible and his own mind 
wrought a change in his views, the process of which is detailed in the 
svork before us. We hope an extensive sale may call forth many edi- 
tions of a book so well adapted to do good in times like these. 

F\om the New York Observer. 

In many respects this is a remarkable book. It was published 
anonymously about two years ago, and was warmly commended by 
gome and condemned by others We did not notice it at the time, for 


vii 

on examining it we thought it not likely to do any harm, but we did 
not think the argument in defence of the Christian system to be com- 
plete and conc.usive. Others, however, much better qualified than we 
to judge, pronounce it a masterly production, and as a second edition is 
now called for, we may presume that it is appreciated by the public. 

From the Christian Observer, Philadelphia. 

We are gratified to see another edition of this able work before the 
public. It will be called for and read with interest by many who can 
appreciate the reasonings of a logical and vigorous thinker. 

PHILOSOPHY OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION. 

To the Publishers. 

I recommended this work to a friend of mine, a lawyer 
in the city of New York, who, though not a deist, yet had no fixed re- 
ligious belief, and had long experienced doubts as to the reality of the 
change of heart expressed by Christians. He expressed his satisfac- 
tion with the argument of the book in the strongest terms, and gave the 
clearest indications of a desire to share in the “ salvation,” which is 
the subject of the work. 

Another, a merchant in Boston, long attendant on Unitarian preach- 
ing, but more recently a hearer of Rev. E. N. Kirk, accidentally found 
a single copy of the first edition, and declared to me in substance that, 
in his judgment, as an explanation and defence of orthodox Chris- 
tianity, it was beyond comparison superior to anything he had ever 
read. This was before the second edition was out ; and he expressed 
the wannest surprise and regret that no other copy of the book could 
be found in the Boston shops but the one he had purchased, and which 
he was lending to his friends as a rare and interesting work. I believe 
' * the above are fair specimens of the eflTect of this volume on the Jirst 
order of business minds, which circumstances have made skeptical as 
to the reality of the new birth ; and I think you cannot do Christianity 
a more essential service at this time, than by using every effort for its 
wide circulation, especially in the West. 

A PASTOR. 


From the New York Daily Tribune. 

This is the second edition of a work of decided value and ability. 
The writer states that it was written in the form of letters to a skepti- 


Vlll 


cal friend, expi^ining the grounds on which the author had renounced 
his former skepticism and embraced the doctrines of Christianity. 
The several difficulties which frequently lead the minds of the earnest 
and thoughtful into doubt and disbelief concerning the divine authority 
of Christianity, are boldly and ably met, and we think no one can read 
the book without decided profit. We commend it to general attention. 
The first edition met a rapid sale, and we have little doubt the second 
will be equally welcome. 

PHII.OSOPHY OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION. 

This deservedly popular work continues to meet with public favor, if 
the publisher may judge by the continued sale and favorable notices of 
it. He has just received the following from a clergyman lately travel- 
ling in Europe. “ The book you lately published, ‘ Philosophy of the 
Plan of Salvation,’ is highly esteemed by the leading clergy in London 
and vicinity. It is soon to be published as one in the series called 
‘ Ward’s Standard Divinity,’ under the sanction of twenty-four prin- 
cipal Dissenting ministers, among whom are Dr. Harris, Dr. J. Pye 
Smith, and others well tnown in both countries.” 


Recent Notices of this Work. 

The following was received, unsolicited by the publisher, from the 
president of Knox College, in Illinois : — 

<< I have just taken the senior class through the Philosophy of the 
Plan of Salvation. It is decidedly the best vindication of the Old 
Testament scriptures against the assaults of infidelity, and one of the 
most useful class books which I have ever met.” 

For years this work has been used as a text-book, in some of the 
oldest and most flourishing female seminaries. 

A Welsh minister, in Michigan, has brought a copy from Wales. • • 
He says it has been translated into Welsh, and is circulated broadcast 
over the hills, and through the hamlets, and in the mines of his native 
land. 

The London Evangelical Tract Society have adopted this work, and 
are scattering it over England. 

On Mr. Robert Carter’s return from Scotland, he wrote the publisher 
— The Plan of Salvation has been republished in Scotland in various 
shapes. — It has made no small stir there.” 


IX 


The following notices, copied from foreign periodicals, show th« 
high estimation in which this book is held abroad : — 

From the Edinburgh United Secession Magazine. 

“ This is really an original book. Every sentence is pregnant with 
thought, and every idea conduces to the main demonstration. The 
various chapters and paragraphs are bound together as closely as the 
successive steps of a mathematical argument. At the same time, 
neither does abstruseness vail the method, nor subtilty polish away 
the power of the reasonings employed. The treatise is one of sturdy 
common sense. Any one may read it with delight and advantage. 
Its conclusions come home with certainty to the ‘ business and bosom’ 
of every man. 

“ The book is the work of a reclaimed sceptic. Along with another 
friend, also of infidel sentiments, he had often spoken of the evidences 
of Christianity, and yet was not convinced by them. But circum- 
stances afterwards led him to reconsider the whole subject, and the 
result was, his conviction of the divine origin of our most holy faith. To 
the unbelieving friend referred to, the author on his conversion com- 
menced a series of' letters detailing the grounds of his own change, 
and these letters form the basis of the dissertation now before us. The 
book, on its appearance in America, was sent to several intelligent 
sceptics, and in all but one case they expressed a favorable change in 
their views. The object of the work is to show, ‘ by a series of inde- 
pendent propositions, the results of which accumulate to the conclu- 
sion, that the Christian religion is necessarily the only religion 
possible to meet the spiritual wants of mankind.’ By Christianity, the 
author means * Christianity as taught by the interpretation and 
experience of evangelical Christians' The nineteen chapters into 
which the author has divided his work, are brief, lucid, and conclusive. 
Many interesting remarks occur in some of the earlier chapters on the 
nature and purpose of the old dispensation with its Levitical code. 
Perhaps this is the fullest portion of the work, as the author’s mind, 
in the days of his unbelief, seems to have stumbled chiefly at the 
Mosaic history and ritual. We hope this reprint will command an 
extensive sale. The work has been already stereotyped in America. 

« Book-making is not the author’s profession,’ yet his style is terse 
homely, and vigorous.” 


From the London Evangelical Magazine and Missioruiry Chronicle. 

This volume excites considerable attention in the thinking world. 
Though written with great simplicity, it is evidently the production 
of a master mind. The style and arrangement are somewhat careless ; 
but there is much originality in the several trains of thought, and few 
works are more adapted to bring sceptics of a certain class to a stand. 
It is, in fact, the substance of a series of letters written by the author, 
who was once a sceptic, to a friend who had sympathized with him in 
his former unbelief ; and it exhibits the specific views of Christian 
evidence which brought the writer to ‘ a thorough conviction of the 
truth and divine authority of Christianity.’ Viewed in this light, the 
volume has a peculiar value. It is the disclosure of the actual process 
of mind through which the author passed, from the dark regions of 
doubt and infidelity, to the clear light and conviction of a sound and 
heartfelt belief in the truth as it is in Jesus. 

“ There is, in many parts of this treatise, a force of argument and a 
power of conviction almost resistless. 

“ We sincerely hope that this volume will have a very wide circu- 
lation. It is a work of extraordinary power.” 

From the Edinburgh Free Church Magazine. 

“ There is much to hope for, as well as to fear, for America. In its 
whole character there is a degree of untrammelled freedom, which 
gives it a capability for, and even a tendency to, a bold and original 
aspect of thought and action, either for evil or for good. Its great 
capabilities, however, are only beginning to appear and to be appre- 
ciated ; but they can no longer be concealed. In the writings of 
Channing, the Socinian theory has reached its fullest and most 
imposing development. Some of its essayists have even overgone the 
boldest speculations of German philosophy. Its Biblical critics are 
equal to any in the world, whether in the development of error or in 
the maintenance of truth ; and in plain and practical common sense, 
in vigorous and sound thinking, it has men who are entitled to hold 
no second rank. The book before us is one of singular merit. As a 
piece of clear, vigorous, consecutive thinking, we scarcely know its 
superior. We would not hesitate to place it side by side with Butler’s 
Analogy, merely as a specimen of close and unanswerable reasoning ; 
while it is far superior with regard to the evangelical view which it 
gives of the plan of salvation. In a series of nineteen short chapters, 
the author of this admirable work presents a philosophical view of 
the Gospel scheme of salvation, so succinctly stated and so strongly 


XI 


reasoned — each successive chapter adding to the strength of the 
argument — that it seems almost impossible to escape from the con- 
clusion at which he arrives. That conclusion, stated in his own 
words, is the following : ‘ That Christianity, as taught by the inter- 
pretation and experience of evangelical Christians, is the true religion, 
and the only religion possible for man, in order to perfect his nature 
and restore his lapsed powers to harmony and holiness.’ Our limits 
will not, at present, do more than permit us to express our sincere 
thanks to Mr. Ogle for this reprint, and our earnest recommendation 
of It to all our readers.” 

From t?ie London Methodist Magazine and Evangelical Repository. 

* * * « This book consists of nineteen chapters, in which 

philosophy and divinity are associated without spoiling each other. 
The former loses none of its dignity, and the latter none of its purity, 
for the aid which is mutually rendered. It is, in fact, a philosophical 
defence and development of the great scheme of human redemption. 
The plan of the work, though suggested by previous authors, has an 
unquestionable claim to originality. The execution of it, at least, 
displays a mind of the very highest order. It may often be read, and 
will as often leave the intellect of the reader abundantly -enriched and 
vastly improved.” ^ 

From the London Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle. 

“ As we have already expressed our strong and decided opinion as 
to the exalted merits of this transatlantic essay on the truth of the 
Gospel, we need not again to volunteer any argument in its support. 
We think it is more likely to lodge an impression in the human con- 
science, in favor of the divine authority of Christianity, than any work 
of the modern press. And as it seeks an avenue to the human heart 
somewhat different from the ordinary mode of approaching it, we can- 
not help thinking that this will materially contribute to its success. 
We cannot but commend the decision of the Tract Society, in placing 
this deeply interesting work in the list of its monthly volumes.” 

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. ■' i ■ 



PREFACE 


TO THE FIRST EDITION. 


This book is anonymous. With the exception of a few 
gentlemen, who kindly assisted in revising the sheets, and 
reviewing the authorities and notes, it is not probable that 
any individual out of the writer’s ^mily will be able to 
conjecture, with the least degree of probability, who is the 
author of the book. Even the personal friends of the 
author would not be likely to suspect him of writing this 
volume. The book will, therefore, stand upon its own 
merits before the public ; and the author will be indulged 
in making some expressions which a becoming degree of 
modesty would forbid, were his name upon the title-page. 

OCCASION OF THE WORK. 

During some of the first years of the writer’s active 
life he was a skeptic ; he had a friend who has since been 
well known as a lawyer and a legislator, who was also 
skeptical in his opinions. We were both conversant with 
the common evidences of Christianity. None of them 
convinced our minds of the Divine origin of the Christian 
religion, although we both thought ourselves willing to be 


XIV 


PREFACE. 


convinced by sufficient evidence. Circumstances which 
need not to be named led the writer to examine the Bible, 
and to search for other evidence than that which had been 
commended to his attention by a much esteemed clerical 
friend, who presided in one of our colleges. The result of 
the examination was a thorough conviction in the author’s 
mind of the truth and Divine authority of Christianity. 
He supposed at that time, that in his inquiries, he had 
adopted the only true method to settle the question, in the 
minds of all intelligent inquirers, in relation to the Divine 
origin of the Christian religion. Subsequent reflection 
has confirmed this opinion. 

Convinced himself of the Divine origin of the religion 
of the Bible, the author commenced a series of letters to 
convey to his friend the evidence which had satisfied his 
own mind beyond the possibility of doubt. The corre- 
spondence was, by the pressure of business engagements, 
interrupted. The investigation was continued, however, 
when leisure would permit, for a number of years. The 
results of this investigation are contained in the following 
chapters. The epistolary form in which a portion of the 
book was first written will account for some repetition, and 
some varieties in the style, which otherwise might not have 
been introduced. 

REASONS FOR PRESENTING THE WORK TO THE PUBLIC. 

Book-making is not the author’s profession. But after 
examining his own private library, and one of the best 


PREFACE. 


XV 


public libraries in the country, he could find no treatise in 
which the course oj reasoning was pursued which will be 
found in the following pages. Dr. Chalmers, in closing 
his Bridgewater Treatise, seems to have had an apprehen- 
sion of the plan and importance of such an argument ; 
and had he devoted himself to the development of the 
argument suggested, the effort would have been worth 
more to the world than all the Bridgewater Treatises put 
together, including his own work. 

Coleridge has somewhere said, that the Levitical econ- 
omy is an enigma yet to be solved. To thousands of in- 
telligent minds it is not only an enigma, but it is an 
absolute barrier to their belief in the Divine origin of the 
Bible. The solution of the enigma was the clew which 
aided the writer to escape from the labyrinth of doubt; 
and now, standing upon the rock of unshaken faith, he 
offers the clew that guided him to others. 

A work of this kind is called for by the spirit of the 
age. Although the signs of the times are said to be pro- 
pitious, yet there are constant developments of undisci- 
plined and unsanctified mind both in Europe and America, 
which furnishes matter of regret to the philanthropist and 
the Christian. A struggle has commenced — is going on 
at present — and the heat of the contest is constantly in- 
creasing, in which the vital interests of man, temporal and 
spiritual, are involved. In relation to man’s spiritual 
interests, the central point of controversy is the “ cross of 
Christy In New England, some of those who have 
2 # 


xvi 


PREFACE . 


diverged from the doctrine of the fathers, have wandered 
into a wildness of speculation which, ^were it not for the 
evil experienced by themselves and others, ought, per- 
haps, to be pitied as the erratic aberrations of an unset- 
tled reason, rather than blamed as the manifestation of 
minds determinately wicked. The most painful indication 
connected with this subject is, that these guilty dreamers 
are not waked from their reveries by the rebuke of men 
whose positions and relations in society demand it at their 
hands. 

The West, likewise, is overrun by sects whose teachers, 
under the name of Reformers, or some other inviting 
appellation, are using every effort to seduce men from the 
spiritual doctrines and duties of the gospel, or to organize 
them into absolute hostility against Christ. These men 
are not wanting in intellect, nor in acquired knowledge, 
and their labors have prejudiced the minds of great num- 
bers against the spiritual truths of the gospel — and ren- 
dered their hearts callous to religious influence. These 
facts, in the author’s opinion, render such a volume as he 
has endeavored to write necessary in order to meet the 
exigencies of the ‘ imes. 


AUTHOE’S PEEFACE 


TO THE SECOND EDITION. 


The increasing demand for the “ Philosophy of the Plan 
of Salvation,” and the general and very favorable notices 
which it received from the secular and religious presses 
of the country, as well as from distinguished individuals, 
had produced in the mind of the author the desire to make 
some additions to the volume, with the hope of rendering 
it more worthy of the favor with which the first edition 
was received. A second edition, however, being called 
for so soon, and the copyright being transferred to a pub- 
lisher who desires to stereotype the work immediately, 
leisure has not been obtained to make the designed addi- 
tions ; and furthermore, it has been doubted whether any 
enlargement of the volume, at the present time, would 
add much to its value, or to its circulation. It is issued, 
therefore, in its original form, with only a few verbal 
emendations. 

It is a fact grateful to the feelings of the author, and 
one which perhaps ought to be mentioned, that copies of 
the first edition were put into the hands of several intelli- 
gent skeptics: in all but a single case the individuals 
expressed a favorable change in their views, either in 
relation to the truth and authority of the dispensations 
proper of Moses and Christ, or of the exclusive adapted- 
ness of the Christian dispensation to meet all the spiritual 
wants of men. 


xviii 


author’s preface. 


In the reviews of the book the final conclusion derived 
synthetically, by combining the results produced by an 
analysis of the diflTerent propositiojis examined, is not 
noticed so fully as some other features of the work. The 
book is a series of independent demonstrations, the results 
of which accumulate to the final conclusion, that the 
Christian religion is necessarily the only religion possible 
to meet the spiritual wants of mankind. 

In arriving at this conclusion, the different parts and 
processes of revealed religion are examined, and their 
adaptedness to perform their several functions in elevating, 
purifying, and actuating the human soul to benevolent 
effort, is determined, and, finally, the practical operation 
of the system is shown, as a matter of undeniable expe- 
rience, to produce the complete and necessary result 
required. 

By this method the conclusion is brought Cut with a 
degree of accuracy approaching, if it does not reach, 
mathematical demonstration, that the truths and manifes- 
tations of the Christian religion are adapted to carry for- 
ward man’s moral powers to their ultimate development ; 
that the power applied fills the capacity of the human 
soul. As four is contained in twelve three times, and as 
twelve is the only number in which four is three times 
contained ; so the capacities and susceptibilities of the 
human soul being given, and the power and adaptations 
of revelation being ascertained, the result is obtained 
(may it not be said with mathematical certainty?) that 
Christianity, as taught by the interpretation and experience 
of evangelical Christians, is the true religion^ and the 
only religion possible for human nature. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER I. 

Man "will worship — He will become assimilated to the char- 
acter of the object that he worships — Character of heathen 
deities defective and earthly — From this corrupting wor- 
ship man has no power to extricate himself, 60 


CHAPTER II. 

Concerning the design and necessity of the bondage in Egypt, 63 

CHAPTER III. 

Concerning Miracles — particularly the miracles which accom- 
panied the deliverance of the Israelites from bondage in 
Egypt, 59 


CHAPTER lY. 

Concerning what was necessary as the first step in the process 
of Revelation, 72 


XX 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER V. 

Concerning the necessity of affectionate obedience to God, and 
the manner of produciikg that obedience in the hearts of the 
Israelites, 70 

CHAPTER VI. 

Concerning the design and necessity of the Moral Law, * 84 

CHAPTER VII 

Concerning the development of the idea of holiness, and its 
transfer to Jehovah as an attribute, 90 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Concerning the origin of the ideas of justice and mercy, and 
their transfer to the character of Jehovah, 101 

CHAPTER IX. 

Concerning the transition from the material system, by which 
religious ideas were conveyed through the senses to the 
spiritual system, in which abstract ideas were conveyed by 
words and parables, 114 


CONTENTS. 


xxi 


CHAPTER X. 

Concerning the medium of conveying to men perfect instruc- 
tion in doctrine and duty, 122 


CHAPTER XI. 

Concerning some of the peculiar proofs of the Messiahship of 
Christ, 128 

CHAPTER XII. 

Concerning the condition in life which it was necessary the 
Messiah should assume, in order to benefit the human fam- 
ily in the greatest degree, by his example and instructions, 135 


CHAPTER XIII. 

Concerning the essential principles which must, according to 
the nature of things, lie at the foundation of the instruc- 
tion of Christ, 142 


CHAPTER XIV. 

Concerning Faith, as the exercise through which truth reaches 
and affects the soul, 


140 


XXll 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER XV. 

Concerning th.e manifestations of God which, would be neces- 
sary, under the new and Spiritual dispensation, to produce 
in the soul of man affectionate obedience, 166 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Concerning the influence of faith in Christ upon the moral 
disposition and moral powers of the soul, 197 

• CHAPTER XVII. 

Concerning the design and importance of the Means of Grace 
— Prayer — Praise — Preaching 221 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Concerning the agency of God in carrying on the work of 
Redemption, and the manner in which that agency is ex- 
erted, 240 

CHAPTER XIX. ^ 

Concerning the practical effects of the system as exemplified 
in individual cases, 1.... 246 

SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 

An Objective Revelation necessary, as a means of the Moral 
Culture of Mankind, 257 


INTKODUCTION. 


We ask not that a man should come to an investiga*' 
lion of the evidences of the Christian revelation with a 
pre-judgment in its favor; we ask only that there be no 
prejudice in the soul against it. It is only when a man 
looks through a glass which is perfectly clear and pure, 
that he sees things as they are ; if the glass be m the 
least degree distorted or discolored, every object seen 
through it will necessarily partake of the distortion and 
discoloration. So our Saviour teaches us, Matth. V. 22, 
23. This is said expressly in regard to the blinding 
power of avarice in perverting the religious judgments, 
(compare vs. 19, 20 ;) and the same is true of every 
other forbidden state of mind and affection. When there 
is no mental or moral preoccupation averse to the Chris- 
tian system, the surprising adaptations of this system to 
meet and relieve the wants and sorrows of man, consti- 
tute a species of evidence which is real and most con- 
vincing ; some traits, which on a superficial view seemed 
unfavorable, on closer scrutiny are found to be among 
the strongest links in the chain of demonstration. Again, 
the mind may be in such a state that the clearest evi- 
dence of this kind will produce upon it no effect what- 
ever. There is a voluntary and perfect unsusceptibility 
to any impression from it. 

The idea which I wish to convey can probably be best 
3 


28 


INTRODUCTION. 


illustrated by an example. We will suppose a shipwreck 
in which every soul perishes except two passengers, 
whom we will name Benignus and Contumax. W^ith 
nothing saved but their lives, they are cast upon the 
rocky shore of a desert island, where there is no pros- 
pect to cheer the eye, and neither vegetable nor animal 
nor human habitation to give them hope of aid or suste- 
nance. 

The first emotions of Benignus, after struggling 
through the waves, are admiring gratitude lo God for 
giving him his life, and a cheerful confidence that he 
who had aided him thus far, wmuld not then leave him 
to perish. The first emotions of Contumax are mur- 
muring regret that he has lost his voyage and lost his 
money, and is thrown upon a desolate coast with no 
immediate prospect of getting away. He wonders why 
such ill luck should always happen to him ; he is indig- 
nant that he was ever such a fool as to trust himself to 
the sea ; he wonders he could not have had sense enough 
to remain at home. 

Presently Benignus discovers in the rock, far above 
the reach of the waves, a spacious cavern, the entrance 
to which is protected by an artificial wall, and its sides 
pierced, evidently by a human hand, for the admission 
of light and air. Benignus is delighted ; he immediately 
concludes that some benevolent individuals, or some 
paternal government, had provided this shelter on pur- 
pose for unfortunate mariners who might be shipwrecked 
on the inhospitable shore. 

Contumax scorns any such inference ; he cannot see 
why benevolent people should wish to drive poor ship- 
wrecked wretches into such a dismal hole«in the rock, 


INTRODUCTION. 


27 


instead of providing them with a comfortable and pleas- 
ant home. Benignus reminds him that a house with 
windows and doors could not endure the storms of such 
a coast ; and as •no one would live there to take care of 
it, it would be continually out of repair, and far less 
comfortable than the cavern; and therefore the very 
nature of the shelter provided should be regarded as a 
striking proof not only of the benevolence, hut also of the 
wisdom of the provider. But Contumax is thinking of 
a handsome house in a green yard, filled with the shrub- 
bery of a fine climate, and cannot see a particle of either 
wisdom or benevolence in the rocky grotto. He, how- 
ever, avails himself of the shelter for wan of a better. 

Benignus soon finds, carefully stored away beyond the 
reach of damp, a tinder-box with all the necessary fur- 
nishing, and a quantity of dry fuel for making a fire. 
“ See,” says he joyfully to his companion, “ another 
proof of the benevolent care of the provider of the cav- 
ern ; here are all the materials for making a quick fire, 
of which we are so much in need.” “ How do you 
know,” replies Contumax, “ that these things came here 
in that way ? They probably belong to some poor 
wretch who has been shipwrecked before us, and found 
a chance to get away again, as I wish from my heart 1 
could do.” Benignus thinks that the great care with 
which they were put away out of the reach of injury is 
a sufficient indication that they were not left by one joy- 
ously hastening away, intent only on his own selfish 
interest, but must have been deposited there by some 
benevolent hand, for the express purpose of relieving the 
suffering; but Contumax cherishes no such romantic 
ideas. 


28 


INTRODUCTION. 


Benignus, greatly delighted with what he has already 
discovered, makes further search in the cave, and finds 
plain and wholesome provisions, such as would not soon 
be injured, together with medicines and cordials; ana 
also a supply of coarse, but clean and warm clothing, 
carefully cased up so as to preserve them from all injury 
of wet or moth. “ Now,” says Benignus to his com- 
panion, “you certainly will be convinced that this place 
was provided by some benevolent hand on purpose for 
the shipwrecked. Here is evidence whicn cannot be 
gainsaid.” “ We have more reason to apprehend,” 
growls Contumax, “ that we have fallen upon the haunts 
of pirates; who are now absent on their depredations, 
but will soon return to murder us.” “ Nay,” replies 
Benignus, “ these are not the spoils of pirates ; here are 
neither jewels nor silks, here is no gold or silver — here 
are neither costly viands nor rich wines nor intoxicating 
brandies ; and besides, the things are laid away with 
much more care and scrupulous nicety than suits the 
wasteful and licentious habits of pirates.” “ Well, at any 
rate,” replies Contumax, “ the donor must be a vulgar, 
stingy fellow, to put us off with such coarse food and 
raiment.” “ But you do not consider,” says Benignus, 
“that these things must not be so costly as to tempt 
cupidity, since they cannot be kept under lock and Key, 
— and besides, they are healthful and comfortable, and 
far better adapted to the condition of those most likely to 
need them, than if they had been of fine material; for 
twenty sailors suffer shipwreck, where one gentleman is 
subject to such a misfortune.” The only reply which 
Contumax has to this is, to keep the thought well up in 
his own mind, “ I am a gentleman ar d not a sailor.” 


INTRODUCTION. 


2£ 

Coi.tumax, however, does not hesitate to warm him 
self by the fire which Benignus has made of the mate- 
rials found in the cave ; he partakes largely and with 
great zest of the provisions and cordials, simple as they 
are ; gladly lays aside his own wet and torn clothing, 
for the coarse hut comfortable and dry raiment provided 
for him ; and fixing himself in the most easy position he 
can devise, and as near the various comforts of the grotto 
as he can get, he is quite ready to enter upon an argu- 
ment to any extent. He is a great reasoner, Contumax 
is. He can prove most philosophically that Benignus 
cannot prove that there was any benevolent intention at 
all in anybody in providing and furnishing that cavern 
— he can prove to a dead certainty that, for all which 
can be proved to the contrary, it might have been a mere 
accident, a blunder, a selfish enterprise ; that nobody 
knows anything about it — and he can account for it in 
twenty ways, without the least supposition of wisdom or 
benevolence, or anything of the kind. The only thing 
he is certain of is, that he is in a miserable place — ^he 
thinks somebody is greatly to blame for putting him 
there — and is under decided obligation to get him safely 
away again. 

What kind of reasoning can you apply to such a mind ? 
What sort of evidence can such a man perceive or appre- 
ciate ? What can he see in a pure light while his eyes 
are suffused with jaundice ? 

This character represents, and not unfairly, by far the 
largest class of skeptics, which exist in Christian lands. 

There is in them all a tinge of disaffection, of misan- 
thropy, or rather, of theomisey — if we may be allowed to 
coin a word, to express an idea 'which is often a reality, 
3 * 


30 


INTRODUCTION. 


but which in our proper English longue as yet has no 
name. This give? a dark shade to all their views of 
evidence, ar.d prevents their seeing any decided proof in 
trains of rea.soning which, in other states of mind, would 
have all the force of absolute demonstration. 

The man who has long held raw brandy in his mouth, 
cannot immediately distinguish the taste of delicate 
wines ; and he who has accustomed his soul to the un- 
feeling roughness of a godless style of thought, loses the 
delicacy of moral perception, which to the experienced 
Christian is the very organ by which he receives and 
appropriates evidence on moral and religious subjects. 

All reflecting men, when they seriously contemplate 
their moral condition in this world, feel very much like 
shipwrecked sailors. In regard to this single point there 
is very little difference between the believer and the un- 
believer — between Benignus and Contumax. But there 
is a great difference in their feelings' in reference to their 
condition after it has been surveyed. The believer feels 
that he yet has much to thank God for ; he feels real 
gratitude that his position is not still worse than it proves 
to be. The unbeliever, on the other hand, when he knows 
God, glorifies him not as God, neither is he thankful; 
and as a necessary consequence, he becomes vain in his 
imagination, and his foolish heart is darkened. He feels 
under no particular obligation to God ; on the contrary, 
he rather thinks that God is under decided obligation to 
him, to treat him very well, and bring him easily and 
safely through the bad place into which he has thrown 
him. 

In this state of mind he looks upon the divine arrange- 
ments actually made for his spiritual good, and almost 


INTRODUCTION. 


81 


as a matter of course, he is dissatisfied. Such being the 
different state of mind of the two classes of persons, the 
facts of the Christian revelation, although substantially 
the same as they present themselves to both, yet produce 
very diverse and even opposite effects ; to the believer 
establishing his faith, to the unbeliever confirming his 
skepticism ; to the one a savor of life unto life^ to the 
other a savor of death unto death. 

Meanwhile, the most scornful unbeliever quietly avails 
himself of all the incidental advantages which the Chris- 
tian system brings, makes himself very comfortable with 
all the social improvements which it originates, and em- 
ploys the mental culture which he himself owes to it, in 
strenuous exertions to disprove its intelligent and benev- 
olent origin. 

We will endeavor to show, in a few particulars, the 
different effects which the same aspects of revelation pro- 
duce on the two diflferent classes of mind under consid- 
eration. 

To both, revelation presents itself as, in the main, very 
plain and homely in its garb. To the unbeliever, this 
is offensive, unworthy of God. He would have some- 
thing more in accordance with the ambitious style of the 
little greatness of this world, for he has never learned 
that the foolishness of God is wiser than men^ and the 
loeakness of God is stronger than men. The believer 
understands that the greater part of God’s children, for 
whom revelation is designed, are plain and homely peo- 
ple, that their souls are as precious as the souls of the 
proud and mighty, and in eternity may be altogether 
more elevated ; and he knows if one cannot perceive the 
real dignity and refinement of Scripture, it must be 


32 


INTRODUCTION. 


because his ideas of dignity and refinement are fao 
titious, and not natural. 

Both the believer and the unbeliever see things in the 
Bible that are severe and rough. The destruction of 
Sodom, :he stoning of the Sabbath-breaker, the extirpa- 
tion of the Canaanites, are matters of fact in the eyes of 
both. But in this atmosphere, the philosophic infidel 
feels as uncomfortably as Contumax in the cave. The 
believer, however, reflects that since God does not choose 
to purify men by physical omnipotence, but by moral 
means and influences only, he must of course address 
each age by means adapted to the condition of each, and 
rough generations must be met with severe measures ; 
just as Benignus sees that a cavern with loop-holes and 
guard-walls, instead of a house with doors and windows, 
is admirably fitted to a desolate and stormy coast. 

Both understand that the vicious, the indolent and the 
careless cannot attain to correct views of revealed truth ; 
for the truth is so revealed that labor, effort, care and 
even energetic strugglings are essential to the acqui- 
sition of religious knowledge in its purity. To the un- 
believer, this is all distasteful. He feels as if God werg 
under obligations to make the way of salvation such that 
men would walk in it as a matter of course, without 
either effort or thought of their own ; that all the means 
of salvation should not only be such that they can be 
used, but such that they cannot be abused ; that raer 
should not only be able to find the way of life, but abso 
lutely unable to lose it. The believer perceives at on^t, 
the total unreasonableness of these demands, and their 
entire inconsistency with all the arrangements of nature, 
U would be as easy for God to cover the earth with rai» 


INTRODUCTION. 


33 


roads as with i lountains, with canals as with rivers — to 
cause houses, all finished and furnished, to spring out of 
the ground as welV as trees, and make the wheat-stalk 
bear a well-baked loaf of bread just as easily as the grain 
of wheat— and thus save men all the hard labor of toil- 
some tra •’^elling, of digging and building, of ploughing 
and planing, of harvesting and grinding and baking 
Bu': has God done this ? And what would man be good 
for if he had ? So in religion, what would a free agent 
be who had nothing to do ? In all nature, that which 
can be used is susceptible also of abuse ; that which can 
do good can be perverted also to evil. Why does not 
the infidel require, as proof of the wisdom and goodness 
of the God of nature, a kind of v/ater that can quench 
his thirst and clean his skin and float his ships, but which 
will never on any occasion drown anybody or make an 
inundation ; a kind of rain that will refresh his grass, but 
never wet his hay ; a kind of axe that will cut wood, but 
never penetrate the flesh of the wood-cutter ; a kind of 
fire that will cook his food and warm him when he is 
cold, but can never burn him or reduce his dwelling to 
ashes ? These demands are all quite as reasonable as 
those which the infidel makes as conditions of his ideal 
revelation ; and the objections which are urged with so 
much confidence against the Bible, and gain so easy a 
reception among men, proceed on a principle which 
would be scouted and scorned by all the w^orld as un- 
speakably ridiculous i: applied to nature. The believer 
recognizes the God of the Bible and the God of nature 
as the same ; and when he sees the same kind of analo 
gies running through both, it confirms his faith, instead 
cf shaking it. 


34 


INTRODOCTION. 


These ^lustrations might be pursued to almost any 
extent, 3 . least till they had made a book much larger 
than the unpretending little volume which they are de* 
signed to introduce to the reader. 

Having known something of this work from its incep- 
tion to its completion, having witnessed with pleasure its 
remarkable success with the public, being confident that 
its influence must be good and only good in these times 
when philosophical skepticism and superstitious credu- 
lity are equally abundant and equally mischievous, 1 
would gladly do whatever may be in my power to in- 
crease its circulation. 

The argument itself, if not entirely original, is devel- 
oped with a care, a consistency, and a thoroughness 
which can nowhere else be found, certainly in the same 
compass ; and the whole style of thought from beginning 
to end shows it to be the author’s own work and not a 
thing which he has borrowed from others. 

Such books add just so much to our stock of real intel- 
lectual wealth. They are like introducing into a com- 
munity the gold and silver coins in full weight, instead 
of setting up a new bank on paper capital and issuing 
paper. 

The argument will always be entirely satisfactory to 
Benignus ; and though Contumax may still continue to 
cavil, every one will see that cavilling and refuting are 
two very different matters. 

C. E Stowe. 

Walnut Hills, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 22d, 1845. 


PHILOSOPHY 


OF THE 

n AN OP SALVATION. 


CHAPTER 1. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

MAN WILL WORSHIP — HE WILL BECOME ASSIMI- 
LATED TO THK CHARACTER OP THE OBJECT 

THAT HE WORSHIPS CHARACTER OF HEATHEN 

DEITIES DEFECTIVE AND UNHOLY — FROM THIS 
CORRUPTING WORSHIP MAN HAS NO POWER TO 
EXTRICATE HIMSELF. 

There are three facts, each of them fully devel- 
oped in the experience of the human family, a con- 
sideration of which will prepare the mind for the 
investigation which follows. When considered in 
their relation to each other, and in their healing 
upon the moral interests of mankind, they will be 
seen to be of exceeding importance. We will ad- 
duce these facts, in conne ;tion with the statements 
and principles upon which they rest, and show 
how V tal are the interests which depend upon them. 


36 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


THE FIRST FACT STATED. 

There .s in the nature of man, or in the circum- 
stances in which he is conditioned, something which 
leads him to recognize and worship a superior being. 
What that something is, is not important in our 
present inquiry whether it be a constitutional in- 
stinct inwrought by the Maker — whether it be a de- 
duction of universal reason, inferring a first cause 
from the things that are made — whether it be the 
effect of tradition, descending from the first worship- 
pers, through all the tribes of the human family — 
whether any or all of these be the cause, the fact is 
the same — Man is a religious being — he will 

WORSHIP. 

In view of this propension of human nature, phi- 
losophers, in seeking a generic appellation for man, 
have denominated him a religious animalP The 
characteristic is true of him in whatever part of the 
world he may be found, and in whatever condition ; 
and it has been true of him in all ages of which we 
have any record either fabulous or authentic. 

Navigators have, in a few instances, reported that 
isolated tribes of men, whom they visited, recognized 
the existence of no superior being : subsequent re- 
searches, however, have generally corrected the erroi 
— and, in all cases, when it has been supposed that 
a tribe of men was found believing in no god, the 
fact has been stated as an evidence of their degrada- 
tion below the mass of their species, and of their 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


37 


approximation to the confines of brute nature. Of 
the whole family of man, existing in all ages, and 
scattered over the four quarters of the globe, and in 
the isles of the sea, there .s scarcely one well authen- 
ticated exception to the fact, that moved by an im- 
pulse of nature, or the force of circumstances, man 
worships something which he believes to be endowed 
with the attributes of a superior being. 

THE SECOND FACT STATED. 

The second fact, connected as it is, by the nature 
of things, with the preceding, assumes the highest 
degree of importance. It may be stated in the fol- 
lowing terms : — Man^ by worshipping, becomes as- 
similated to the moral character of the object 
which he worships. This is an invariable princi- 
ple, operating with the certainty of cause and efiect. 
The worshipper looks upon the character of the 
object which he worships as the standard of per- 
fection. He therefore condemns every thing in 
himself which is unlike, and approves of every 
thing which is like that character. The tendency 
of this is to lead him to abandon every thing in 
himself, and in his course of life, which is condemn- 
ed by the character and precepts of his god, and to 
conform himself to that standard which is approved 
by the same criterion. The worshipper desires the 
favor of the object worshipped, and this, reason dic- 
tates, can be obtained only by conformity to the will 
and the character of that object. To become as- 
4 


38 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

similated to the image of the object worshipped 
must be the end of desire with the worshipper. 
His aspiiations, therefore, every time he worships, 
do, from the nature of the case, assimilate his char- 
acter more and more to the model of the object that 
receives his homage. 

To this fact the whole history of the idolatrous 
world bears testimony. Without an exception, the 
character of every nation and tribe of the human 
family has been formed and modified, in a great 
degree, by the character attributed to their gods. 

From the history of idolatrous nations we will 
cite a number of familiar cases, confirmatory of the 
foregoing statement, that man becomes like the ob- 
ject of his worship. 

A most striking instance is that of the Scythians, 
and other tribes of the Northmen, who subdued and 
finally annihilated the Roman pov/er. Odin, Thor, 
and others of their supposed deities, were ideas of 
hero-kings, blood-thirsty and cruel, clothed with 
the attributes of deity, and worshipped. Their 
worship turned the milk of human kindness into 
gall in the bosoms of their votaries, and they seem- 
ed, like blood-hounds, to be possessed of a horrid 
delight when they were revelling in scenes of blood 
and slaughter. It being believed that one of their 
hero-gods, after destroying great numbers of the 
human race, destroyed himself, it hence became dis- 
reputable to die in bed, and those who did not meet 
death in battle frequently committed suicide, sup- 


PLAN OF SALVATIO^ 39 

posing that to die a natural death mighi exclude 
them from favor in the hall of Valhalla. 

Among the gods of the Greeks and Romans there 
were some names, in the early ages of their history, 
to which some virtuous attributes were attached ; 
but the conduct and character generally attributed 
to their gods were marked deeply with such traits 
as heroism, vengeance, caprice and lust. In tho 
later history of these nations, their idolatry degen- 
erated in character, and became a system of most 
debasing tendency. 

The heroism fostered by idolatry was its least 
injurious influence. Pope’s couplet, had he thrown 
a ray or two of light across the back ground of the 
dark picture, would have been a correct delineation 
of the character of Pagan idols — 

Gods partial, changeful, passionate, unjust ; 

Whose attributes were rage, revenge and lust. 

In some cases the most corrupt attributes of hu- 
man nature, and even of brute nature, were attri- 
buted to objects of worship, and while men bowed 
down to them, they sunk themselves to the lowest 
depths of vice. The Egyptians might be named as 
an instance. The first patrons of the arts and 
sciences were brute- worshippers ; and it is testified 
of them that bestiality, the lowest vice to which 
human nature can descend, was common amongst 
them. The paintings and sculpture of their divini- 
ties, in the mummy catacombs, are for the mest 


40 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

part, clusters of beasts, birds, reptiles and flies, 
grouped together in the most disgusting and un- 
natural relations ; a true indication that the minds 
of the worshippers were filled with ideas the most 
vile and unnatural. 

The ancient Venus, as worshipped by almost all 
the elder nations of antiquity, was a personification 
of lust. The deeds required to be done at her pol- 
luting fane, as acts of homage, ought not to be 
named. 

In the best days of Corinth — “ Corinth, the eye 
of Greece” — the most sacred persons in the city 
were prostitutes, consecrated to the worship of 
Venus. From this source she derived a large por- 
tion of her revenues. The consequence was that 
her inhabitants became proverbial for dissoluteness 
and treachery. 

To the heathen divinities, especially those placed 
at the head of the catalogue as the superior gods, 
what theologians have called the physical attributes 
of deity — omnipotent and omnipresent power — were 
generally ascribed ; but their moral character was 
always defective, and generally criminal. As one 
of the best instances in the whole mythology of the 
ancients, the Roman Jupiter might be cited. Had 
a medal been struck delineating the character of 
this best of the gods, on one side might have been 
engraved Almightiness^ Omnipresence^ Justice : 
and on the reverse. Caprice^ Vengeance^ Lust 
Thus men clothed depraved or bestial deities with 


PLAN OF SALVATION 41 

almighty power, and they became cruel, or corrupt, 
or bestial in their aiFections, by the reaction of the 
character worshipped upon the character of the wor- 
shipper. In the strong language of a recent writer, 
“ they clothed beasts and depraved beings with the 
attribute of Almightiness, and in effect they wor- 
shipped almighty beasts and devils.’^ And the 
more they worshipped the more they resembled 
them. 

These testimonies concerning the influence of 
idolatrous worship, and the character of the idols 
worshipped, are maintained by authorities which 
render doubt in relation to their credibility impossi- 
ble. Upon this subject the" wiser men among the 
Greeks and Romans have borne unequivocal testi- 
mony. Plato, in the second book of the Republic, 
speaks of the pernicious influence of the conduct 
attributed to the gods, and suggests that such his- 
tories should not be rehearsed in public, lest they 
should influence the youth to the commission of 
crimes. Aristotle advises that statues and painting;? 
of the gods should exhibit no indecent scenes, ex- 
cept in the temples of such divinities, as, accord^ 
ing to common opinion, preside over sensuality* 
What an affecting testimony of the most discrimi 
nating mind among the heathen ! asserting not only 
the turpitude of the prevailing idolatry, but sanc- 
tioning the sensuality of their debauched worship. 

As Rome and Greece grew older, the infection 
• Aristot. Politica vii. 18. ed Schneider. 

4# 


42 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

of idolatry tistered, until the body politic became 
one mass of moral disease. The state of things, in 
the later ages of these nations, is well stated by a 
late writer of the first authority.* “We should 
naturally suppose, (says this writer,) that among so 
great a variety of gods, of religious actions, of sacred 
vows ; at least some better feeling of the heart 
must have been excited ; that at least some truly 
pious sentiment would have been awakened. But 
when we consider the character of this superstition, 
and the testimony of cotemporaneous writers, such 
does not appear to have been the fact. Petronius’s 
history of that period furnishes evidence that tem- 
ples were frequented, altars crowned, and prayers 
offered to the gods, in order that they might render 
nights of unnatural lust agreeable ; that they mighi 
favor acts of poisoning ; that they might cause rob 
beries and other crimes to prosper.” In view of the 
abominations prevailing at this period, the moral 
Seneca exclaimed — “How great now is the mad 
ness of men ! They lisp the most abominable^ 
prayers ; and if a man is found listening they are 
silent. What a man ought not to hear, they do not 
blush to relate to the gods.” Again says he, “If 
any one considers what things they do, and to what 
things they subject themselves ; instead of decency, 
he will find indecency ; instead of the honorable, 
the jnworthy ; instead of the rational, the insane !” 
Sucn was heathenism and its influence, in the most 
* Tholuck on the influence of Heathenism. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 43 

enlightened ages, according to the testimony of the 
best men of those times. 

In relation to modern idolatry, the world is full 
of living witnesses of its corrupting tendency. We 
will cite in illustration, a single case or two. The 
following is extracted from a public document, laid 
before Parliament, by H. Oakley, Esq., a magistrate 
in lower Bengal. Speaking of the influence of idola- 
try in India, he says of the worship of Kale, one of 
the most popular idols, the murderer, the robber 
and the prostitute, all aim to propitiate a being 
whose worship is obscenity, and who delights in 
the blood of man and beast ; and, without implor- 
ing whose aid, no act of wickedness is committed. 
The worship of Kale must harden the hearts of her 
followers ; and to them scenes of blood and crime 
must become familiar.” 

In China, according to Medhurst, the priests of 
Buddah understand and teach the doctrine of the 
assimilation of the worshipper to the object wor- 
shipped. They say — “ Think of Buddah and yvui 
will be transformed into Buddah. If men pray to 
Buddah and do not become Buddah, it is because 
the mouth prays, and not the mind.”* 

Two facts, then, are philosophically and histori- 
cally true : First, Man is a religious animal, and 
will worship something, as a superior being. Sec- 

* For a succinct statement of the universal prevalence of false 
religions, and their corrupting influence, see Ryan on the Efiect 
of Religion upon Mankind, passim. 


44 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

Dnd, By worshipping he becomes assimilated to 
the moral character of the object which he wor- 
ships. And (the God of the Bible out of view for 
the present) those objects have always had a defec- 
tive and unholy character. 

Here, then, is one great source which has devel- 
oped the corruption of the family of man. We 
inquire not in this place concerning the origin of 
idolatry : whatever, or wherever was its origin, its 
influence has been uniformly the same. As no 
object of idolatrous worship was ever conceived to 
be perfectly just and benevolent, but most of them 
no better than the apotheosis of heroes, or the dei- 
fication of ilie imperfect faculties and impure pas • 
sions of human or brute nature, the result followed 
with a certainty as unerring as cause and effect, 
that man, by following his instinct to worship, 
would becloud his intellect and corrupt his heart. 
Notice how inevitable, from the circumstances of 
the case, was the corruption of man’s powers : — 
He was led to worship by an instinct over which 
he had no control : — The objects of his worship 
were, whether he originated them or not, all of 
them of a character that corrupted his heart ; thus 
the gratification of his instinctive propensities inev- 
itably strengthened the corruption of his nature. 

Now, it is not our design to inquire whether, oi 
how far, man was guilty in producing this evil con- 
dition of things. In view of the facts in the case, 
the inquiry which forces itself upon the mind is — 


PLANOFriALVATION. 45 

Were there any resources in human nature ; or any 
means of any kind, of which man could avail him- 
self, by which he might save himself from the de- 
basing influence of idolatrous worship ? In reply, 

THE THIRD FACT IS STATED. 

There were no means within the reach of human 
power or wisdom^ hy which man could extricate 
himself from the evil of idolatry, either by an im- 
mediate, or by a progressive series of efforts. 

This fact is maintained from the history of idola- 
try, the testimony of the heathen philosophers, and 
the nature of man. 

1. Instead of man acquiring the power or the dis- 
position, as the race became older, to destroy idolatry 
— idolatry, from its first inception in the world, gain- 
ed power to destroy him. Amid . all the mutations 
of society, from barbarous to civilized ; and amid all 
the conflicts of nations, and the changes of dynas- 
ties and forms of government, from the first historic 
notices which we have of the human family down 
to the era of Christ, idolatry constantly became more 
evil in its character and more extended in its influ- 
ence. It is well ascertained that the first objects of 
idolatrous homage were few and simple, and the 
worship of the earliest ages comparatively pure. 
Man fell into this moral debasement but one step 
at a time. The sun, moon, stars, and other con- 
spicuous objects of creative power and wisdoni, re- 
ceived the first idolatrous homage. Afterwards a 


46 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

divinity was supposed to reside in other objects, 
especially in those men, and beasts, and things, 
which were instrumental in conferring particular 
benefits on tribes or nations of men. And, finally, 
images of those objects were formed and worship- 
ped. Images, which subsequently became innu- 
merab.e, were not so in the earliest historic ages. 

In some nations they were not allowed until after 
the era of the foundation of Rome.* As the nations 
grew older, images, which were at the first but few 
and clothed with drapery, became more numerous, 
and were presented before the worshippers in a state 
of nudity, and in the most obscene attitudes. And, 
as has been before stated, their character, from being 
comparatively innoxious, became, without excep- 
tion, demoralizing in the extreme. 

2. During the Augustan age of Rome, and the 
age of Pericles and Alcibiades in Greece — those 
periods when the mind had attained the highest 
elevation ever known among heathen nations — the ^ 

mass of the people were more idolatrous in their 
habits, and consequently more corrupt in their 
hearts, than ever before. The abominations of 
idol-worship, of the mysteries, and of lewdness, in 
forms too vile to name, were rife throughout the 
country and the villages, and had their foci in the 
Capitols of Greece and Rome. Jahn says, in rela- 
tion to this period, “ deities increased in number, 

* Plutarch saj ’ that Numa forbade the Romans to make statuoa 
of tlreir gods. 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


47 


and the apotheosis of vicious emperors was not un- 
frequent. Their philosophers, indeed, disputed 
with much subtlety respecting the architect of the 
universe, but they knew nothing about the Creator 
che holy and almighty judge of men.” 

Some of the more intelligent of the philosophers^ 
perceiving the evil of the prevailing idolatry, de- 
sired to refine the grossness of the popular faith. 
They taught that the facts believed concerning the 
gods were allegories. Some endeavored to iden- 
tify the character of some of their deities with the 
natural virtues ; while many of them became skep- 
tical concerning the existence of the gods and of a 
future state. Those were, however, but isolated 
exceptions to the mass of mankind. And, had their 
views been adopted by others, they would only have 
modified, not remedied the evil. But a contempo- 
rary writer shows how entirely unavailing even to 
modify the evil, was the teaching of the philosophers. 
Dionysius of Hallicarnassus says, “ there are only a 
few who have become masters of this philosophy. 
On the other hand, the great and unphilosophic 
mass are accustomed to receive these narratives 
rather in their worst sense, and to learn one of these 
two things, either to despise the gods as beings who 
wallow i-i the grossest licentiousness, or not to re- 
strain themselves even from what is most abomina- 
ble and abandoned, when they see that the gods do 
the same.” Cicero, in one sentence, as given by 
Tlioluck, notices both the evil and its cause ; con- 


48 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

firming, in direct language, the preceding views. 
“ Instead,” says l:e, ‘‘ of the transfer to man of that 
which is divine, they transferred human sins to the 
gods, and then experienced again the necessary re- 
action.” Such, then, is the testimony of the philo- 
sophers in relation to the idolatry of their times. A 
few gifted individuals obtained sufficient light to see 
the moral evil in which men were involved, but 
they had neither wisdom to devise a remedy, nor 
power to arrest the progress of the moral pestilence 
that was corrupting the noble faculties of the hu- 
man soul. 

3. It was impossible, from the nature of man, 
that he should extricate himself from the corrupt- 
ing influence of idolatry. In this place we wish to 
state a principle which should be kept in view 
throughout the following discussion; — If man 
were ever redeemed from idolatrous worship^ his 
redemption would have to he accomplished hy 
means and instrumentalities adapted to his na- 
lure and the circumstances in which he existed. 
If the faculties of lis nature were changed, he would 
not be man. If his temporal condition were chang- 
ed, different means would be necessary — If, there- 
fore, man, as man^ in his present condition, were to 
be recovered, the means of recovery, Avhether insti 
tilted by God or man, must be adapted to his nature 
and his circumstances. 

The only way, then, in which relief was possi- 
ble for man was, that an object of worship should 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 49 

be placed before the mind directly opposite in moral 
character to those he had before adored. If his 
heart was ever purified, it must be by tearing his 
atfections from his gods, and fixing them upon a 
righteous and holy being as the proper object of his 
homage. But, for man to form such an object was 
plainly impossible. He could not transfer a better 
character to his gods than he himself possessed. 
Man could not “bring a pure thing" out of an im- 
pure.” The effect could not rise higher in moral 
pinity than the cause. Human nature, in the ma- 
turity of its faculties, all agree, is imperfect and self- 
ish ; and, for an imperfect and selfish being to ori- 
ginate a perfect and holy character, deify it, and 
worship it, is to suppose what is contrary to the 
nature of things. The thought of the eloquent and 
philosophic Cicero expresses all that man could do. 
He could transfer his own imperfect attributes to the 
gods, and, by worshipping a being characterized by 
these imperfections, he would receive in himself the 
reaction of his own depravity. 

But, if some men had had the power and the 
disposition to form for the world a perfectly holy 
object of worship, still the great difficulty, as we 
have, seen in the case of the philosophers, would 
have remained, that is, a want of the necessary 
power, ta arrest the progress of idolatry and sub- 
stitute the better worship. To doubt the truth of 
the prevailing idolatry was all that men, at the 
highest intellectual attainment ever acquired in 
5 


50 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


heathen countries, could do. And, if they had nad 
power to convey their doubts to all minds in all the 
world, it would only have been to place mankind in 
the chaotic darkness of atheism, and leave them to 
be led again by their instincts into the abomina- 
tions of imperfect and impure worship. 

The testimony, then, is conclusive, from the his- 
tory of idolatry, that the evil became greater every, 
age — from the statements of the wisest of the hea- 
then, that they had no power to arrest its progress — 
and from the nature of man, that it was not possi- 
ble for him to relieve himself from the corrupting 
influence of idolatry, in which he had become im 
volved. 

From the foregoing facts and reasonings, it is 
plain, that the high born faculties of the human 
soul must have been blighted forever, by a corrupt- 
ing worship, unless two things were accomplished ; 
neither of which it was in the power of human na- 
ture to effect : and, yet, both of which were essen- 
tially necessary to accomplish the elevation of man 
from the pit into which he had fallen. 

The first thing necessary to be accomplished w:as 
that a 'pure object of worship should be placed 
before the eye of the soul. Purity of heart and con- 
science would be necessary in the object of worship, 
otherwise, the heart and conscience of the worship- 
per would not be purified. But’, if an object were 
presented, whose nature was infinitely opposed to 
sin — to all defilement, both physical and spiritual — 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 5i 

and who revealed, in his example, and by his pre- 
cepts, a perfect standard to govern ihe life of man 
under the circumstances in which he was placed, 
then man’s mind would be enlightened, his con- 
science rectified, and the hard and corrupt feelings 
of his heart softened and purified, by assimilation to 
the object of his worship : — As, according to the 
nature of things, an unholy object of worship would 
necessarily degrade and corrupt the human soul ; so 
on the contrary, a holy object worshipped, would 
necessarily elevate and purify the nature of man. 

The second necessary thing in order to man’s re- 
demption was, that when a holy object of worship 
teas refoealedj the revelation should be accompanied 
with sufficient power to injluence men to forsake 
their former worship^ and to worship the holy ob- 
ject made known to them. The presentation of a 
new and pure object, would not cause men to turn 
from their former opinions and practices, and be- 
come directly opposed in heart to what they had 
formerly loved. A display of power would be 
necessary, sufiicient to overcome their former faith 
and their present fears, and to detach their affections 
from idols, and fix them upon the proper object of 
human homage. 

It follows, then, that man must remain a corrupt 
idolater forever, unless God interpose in his behalf. 
The question whether he would thus interpose, in 
the only way possible, to save the race from moral 
death, depends entirely upon the benevolence of 


52 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


his nature. The question whether he has done sO; 
maybe answered by enquiring, whether any sys- 
tem of means has been instituted in the world, char- 
acterized by sufficient power to destroy idolatry — 
revealing at the same time a holy object of worship 
— and this revelation being accompanied by means 
and influences so adapted to man’s nature as to se- 
cure the result. 

To this inquiry the future pages of this volume 
will be devoted. The inquiry is not primarily con- 
cerning the truth of the Bible; but concerning the 
only religion possible for mankind, and the only 
means by which such religion could be given con- 
sistently with man’s nature and circumstances. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


53 


CHAPTER 11. 

CONCERNING THE DESIGN AND NECESSITY OP 
THE BONDAGE IN EGYPT. • 

There are certain bonds of union, and sources 
of sympathy, by which the minds of a whole peo- 
ple may be united into one common mind : so much 
so, that all hearts in the nation will be affected by 
the same subjects, and all minds moved by the 
same motives. Any cause which creates a common 
interest and a common feeling, common biasses and 
common hopes, in the individual minds which com- 
pose a nation, has a tendency to unite them in this 
manner. 

Some of the causes which have more power than 
any others to bind men, as it were into a common 
being, are the following The natural, tie of con- 
sanguinity, or a common parentage, is a strong bond 
of affiliation among men. And there are otheis, 
which, in some cases, seem to be even stronger than 
this : among these may be named a common inter- 
est ; a common religion ; and a common fellow- 
ship^ in suffering and deliverance. Any circum- 
stance which educes the susceptibilities of the mind 
and twines them together, or around a common ob- 
ject— any event in which the interest, the feelings 
5 * 


54 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

the safety, or the reputation of any people is invol- 
ved, causes them to be more closely allied to each 
other in social and civil compact. 

The more firmly a people are bound together by 
these ties of union, the more strength they will pos- 
sess to resist opposing interests and opinions from 
without ; while, at the same time, every thing na- 
tional, or peculiar to them as a people, will be cher- 
ished with warmer and more tenacious attachment. 

From the operation of this principle originates 
the maxim “ Union is strength and whether the 
conflict be mental or physical, the people who are 
united together by the most numerous and powerful 
sympathies, will oppose the strongest and the long- 
est resistance to the innovations of external forces. 
On the contrary, if the bonds of moral union are 
few and easily sundered, the strength of the nation 
is soon broken, and the fragments easily repelled 
from each other. 

According to this principle, in all cases in which 
a whole nation are to be instructed ; or prepared 
for offence and defence ; or in any wise fitted to be. 
acted upon, or to act as a nation, it would be neces- 
sary that the bonds of national union should be 
numerous and strong ; and that as far as possible a 
perfect oneness of interest and feeling should pervade 
the nation. 

S: long as the human mind and human circum- 
stances continue what they are, no power in heaven 
or on earth could ’onite a people together, except by 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


55 


the same or similar means as have been stated. If, 
therefore, God designed to form a nation, either to 
be acted upon or to act as a nation, he would put in 
operation those agencies which would bind them 
firmly and permanently into one mass. 

Now, mark the application of these deductions 
to the case of the Israelites. About the period when 
the corruptions of idolatry were becoming generally 
prevalent, Abraham, the Bible record states, was 
extricated by divine interposition. He was assured 
that his descendants should suffer a long bondage, 
and afterwards become a numerous nation. Abra- 
ham was their common ancestor, one whom they 
remembered with reverence and pride ; and each 
individual felt himself honored by the fact that the 
blood of the “ Father of the faithful” circled in his 
veins. The tie of consanguinity in their case was 
bound in the strongest manner, and encircled the 
whole nation. In Egypt their circumstances and 
employments were the same ; and in the endurance 
of a protracted and most galling bondage they had 
a common lot. Their liberation was likewise a 
national deliverance, which affected alike the whole 
people; the anniversary of which was eelebrated 
by distant posterity with strong and peculiar national 
enthusiasm. 

Now, it has been said, that the events of our colo- 
nial servitude, and the achievement of American 
independence, are points in our history, which will 
ever operate upon our national character, impress- 


56 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


ing Clear views of the great principles of Republi- 
canism, and uniting all hearts in support of those 
principles how much more affecting and indeli- 
ble, then, was the impress made upon the national 
neart of the Israelites by their bondage and deliver- 
ance ! They were bound by blood, by interest, 
feeling, hopes, fears, by bondage and by faith. 

And how firmly did these providences weave into 
one web the sympathies and views of the Jewish 
people. It is a fact which is the miracle of history, 
and the wonder of the world, that the ties which 
unite this people seem to be indissoluble. While 
other nations have risen and reigned and fallen; 
while the ties which united them have been sun- 
dered, and their fragments lost amid earth’s teeming 
population, the stock of Abraham endures, like an 
incorruptible monument of gold, undestroyed by the 
attrition of the waves of time, which have dashed in 
pieces and washed away other nations, whose origin 
was but yesterday, compared with this ancient and 
wonderful people. 

In this manner was this nation prepared for pecu- 
liar duties, and to discharge those duties under 
peculiar circumstances. Many of the nations by 
which they were surrounded were more powerful 
than themselves ; all were warlike ; and each had 
its peculiar system of idolatry, which corrupted all 
hearts that came within its influence. Hence the 
necessity that th.s people should be so united to- 
gether as to resist the power and contagious exam- 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 57 

pie of surrounding nations, while they were fitted to 
receive and preserve a peculiar national character, 
civil polity, and religious doctrines; of all which 
thev were to be the conservators amid surrounding: 
and opposing heathenism, for many ages. 

Other items might he added to the induction 
which would make the design, if possible, more ap- 
parent. If the Jews were to be the recipients of 
new instruction — to obey new laws, and to sustain 
new institutions, it would be desirable that their 
minds, so far as possible, should be in the condition 
of new material, occupied by little previous know- 
ledge, and by no national prejudices against or in 
favor of govermental forms and systems. Now, 
in the case of the Jev/s, the habit of obedience had 
been acquired. They had no national predilections 
or prejudices arising from past experience. In rela- 
tion to knowledge of any kind, their mind was 
almost ^dahula rasa. They were as new mate- 
rial prepared to receive the moulding of a master 
hand, and the impress of a governing mind. 

Now, as this discipline of the descendants of 
Abraham, was the result of a long concatenation 
of events, and could not have been designed by 
themselves to accomplish the necessary end ; and 
as the whole chain of events was connected together 
and perfectly adapted, in accordance with the na- 
ture of things, to produce the specific purpose which 
was accomplished by them, it follows as the only 
rational conclusion. First, that the overruling Intel- 


58 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


igence of God was employed in thus preparing 
material for a purer religious worship than the 
world then enjoyed; and, Second, that a nation 
could have been so prepared by no other ag-eni 
and in no other way. 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


59 


CHAPTER III. 

CONCERNING MIRACLES PARTICULARLY THE 

MIRACLES WHICH ACCOMPANIED THE DELIV- 
ERANCE OF THE ISRAELITES FROM BONDAGE 
IN EGYPT. 

There has been so much fa^se philosophy writ- 
ten concerning the subject of miracles, that it is diffi- 
cult for those conversant with the speculations of 
writers upon this subject, to divest their minds suf- 
ficiently of preformed biasses, to examine candidly 
the simple and natural principles upon which is 
based the evidence and necessity of miraculous 
interposition. 

The following statement is true beyond controver- 
sy — Man cannot j in the present constitution of his 
mind^ believe that religion has a divine origin^ 
unless it he accompanied with miracles. The 
necessary inference of the mind is, that if an In- 
finite Being acts, his acts will be superhuman in 
their character ; because the effect, reason dictates, 
will be characterized by the nature of its cause. 
Man has the same reason to expect that God will 
perform acts above human power and knowledge, 
that he has to suppose the inferior orders of animals 
will, in their a^.tions, sink helovr the power and 


60 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


wisdom which characterizes human nature. For, 
as it is natural for man to perform acts superior to 
the power and knowledge of the animals beneath 
him, so, reason affirms, that it is natural for God 
to devebpe his power by means, and in ways, above 
the skiL and ability of mortals.. Hence, if God 
manifest himself at all — unless, in accommodation 
to the capacities of men, he should constrain his 
manifestations within the compass of human ability 
— every act of God’s immediate power would, to 
humaa capacity, be a miracle. But, if God were 
to constrain all his acts within the limits of human 
means and agencies, it would be impossible for man 
to discriminate between the acts of the Godhead and 
the acts of the manhood. And man, if he consid- 
ered acts of a divide origin, which were plainly 
within the compass of human ability, would violate 
his own reason. 

Suppose, for illustration, that God desired to 
reveal a religion to men, and wished them to re- 
cognize his character and his benevolence in giving 
that revelation. Suppose, further, that God should 
give such a revelation, and that eVery appearance 
and every act connected with its introduction, was 
characterized by nothing superior to human power : 
Could any rational mind on earth believe that such 
a system of religion came from God ? Impossible ! 
A man could as easily be made to believe that his 
own child, who possessed his own lineaments, and 
bis own nature, belonged to some other world, and 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


61 


some other order of the creation. It would not be 
possible for God to convince men, that a religion 
was from heaven, unless it was accompanied with 
the marks of divine power. 

Suppose again, that some individual were to ap- 
pear either in the heathen or Christian world — he 
claimed to be a teacher sent from God, yet aspired 
to the performance of no miracles. He assumed to 
do nothing superior to the wisdom and ability of 
other men. Such an individual, although he might 
sjcceed in gaining proselytes to some particular 
view of a religion already believed, yet he could 
never make men believe that he had a special com- 
mission from God to establish a new religion, for 
the simple reason that he had no grounds more 
than his fellows, to support his claims as an agent 
of the Almighty. But if he could convince a single 
individual that he had wrought a miracle, or that 
he had power to do so, that moment his claims 
would be established, in that mind, as a commis- 
sioned agent from heaven. So certainly, and so in- 
tuitively, do the minds of men revere and expect 
miracles as the credentials of the Divine presence. 

This demand of the mind for miracles, as testi- 
mony of the divine presence and power, is intuitive 
with all men; and those very individuals who 
have doubted the existence or necessity of miracles, 
should they examine their own convictions on^his 
subject, would see that by an absolute necessity, if 
they desired to give the world a system of religion, 
6 


62 


PHILOSOPHY OF THK 


whether truth or imposture, in order to make men 
receive it as of divine authority, they must work 
miracles to attest its truth, or make men believe that 
they did so. Men can produce doubt of a revelation 
in no way until they have destroyed the evidence 
of its miracles ; nor can faith be produced in the 
Divine origin of a religion until the evidence of 
miracles is supplied. 

The conviction that miracles are the true attesta- 
tion of immediate Divine agency, is so constitu- 
tional (allow the expression) with the reason, that 
so soon as men persuade themselves they are the 
special agents of God, in propagating some particu- 
lar truth in the world, they adopt likewise the belief 
that they have ability to work miracles. There 
have been many sincere enthusiasts, who believed 
that they were special agents of heaven, and in such 
cases the conviction of their own miraculous pow- 
ers arises as a necessary concomitant of the other 
opinion. Among such, in modern times, may be 
instanced Immanuel Swedenbourg, and Irvine, the 
Scotch preacher. Imposters also, perceiving that 
miracles were necessary in order that the human 
mind should receive a religion as divine, have in- 
variably claimed miraculous powers. Such in- 
stances recur constantly from the days of Elymas 
down to the Mormon, Joseph Smith. 

^1 the multitude of false religions that have been 
believed since the world began, have been intro- 
duced by the power of this principle. Miracles 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


63 


BELIEVED, lie at the foundation of al. religions 
which men liave ever received as of Divine origin. 
No matter how degrading or repulsive to reason in 
other respects, the fact of its establishment and pro- 
pagation grows out of the belief of men that miracu- 
lous agency lies at the bottom. This belief will 
give currency to any system however absurd, and 
without it, no system can be established in the 
minds of men, however high and holy may be its 
origin and its design. 

Such, then, is the constitution which the Maker 
has given to the mind. Whether the conviction be 
an intuition or an induction of the reason, God is 
the primary cause of its existence ; and its existence 
puts it out of the power of man to receive a revela- 
tion from God himself, unless accompanied with 
miraculous manifestations. If, therefore, God ever 
gave a revelation to man, it was necessarily accom- 
panied with miracles, and with miracles of such a 
nature as would clearly distinguish the Divine char- 
acter and the Divine authority of the dispensation. 

The whole fullness and force of these deductions 
apply to the case of the Israelites. The laws of 
their mind not only demanded miracles as an attes- 
tation of Divine interposition ; but at that time, the 
belief existed in their minds, that miracles were 
constantly performed. Although they remembered 
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, yet they 
likewise, as subsequent facts clearly attested, be- 
ieved that the idols of Egypt possessed the attri- 


# 


64 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


butes of divinity. The belief in a plurality of gods 
was then common to all nations. And although 
this error was corrected, and perhaps entirely re- 
moved, by succeeding providences and instructions, 
from the minds of the Jews ; yet, before the mira- 
cles in Egypt, while the God of Abraham was, per- 
haps, in most cases acknowledged as their God, ths 
idols of Egypt were acknowledged as the gods of 
the Egyptians, and probably worshipped as the di- 
vinities who had power to dispense good and evil 
to all the inhabitants of that land. And in common 
with all Egypt, they, no doubt, believed that the 
acts of jugglery, in which the magicians, or priests 
of Egypt had made astonishing proficiency, were 
actual miracles, exhibiting the power of their idols 
and the authority of the priests to act in their name 

In view, therefore of existing circumstances, two 
things were necessary, on the part of God,* in order 
to give any revelation to the Israelites : — First, that 
He should inanifest himself by miracles, and — 
Second, that those miracles should be of such a 
character, as evidently to distinguish them from 
the jugglery of the magicians, and to convince all 
observers of the existence and omnipotence of the 
true God, in contradistinction from the objects of 
idolatrous worship. Unless these two things were 
done, it would have been impossible for the Israel- 

*. WTien we speak of a thing as necessary on the part of God, 
it is ^id, not in view of God’s attributes, but in view of man’s 
native and circumstances. 



PLAN OP SALVATION. 65 

ites to have recognized Jehovah as the only living 
and true God. 

It follows, then, that by the miracles which God 
wrought, by the hand of Moses, he pursued the only 
way that was possible to give a revelation in which 
his presence and power would be recognized. The 
only point of inquiry remaining is. Were the mira- 
cles of such a character, and performed in such a 
manner, as to remove false views from the minds 
of the Israelites, and introduce right views concern- 
ing the true God, and the non-existence of factitious 
objects of worship ? 

With this point in view, the design in the man- 
agement and character of the miracles in Egypt is 
interesting and obvious. Notice, first, the whole 
strength of the magicians’ skill was brought out and 
measured with that of the miraculous power exerted 
through Moses. If this had not been done, the 
idea would have remained in the minds of the peo- 
ple, that although Moses wielded a mighty miracu- 
lous power, it might be derived from the Egyptian 
gods, or if it was not thus derived, they might have 
supposed, that if the priests of those idols were 
summoned, they could contravene or arrest the 
power vested in Moses by Jehovah. But now, the 
Magicians appearing in the name of their gods, the 
power of Moses was seen to be not only superior to 
their sorceries, but hostile to them and their idola- 
trous worship. 

Notice, second, the design and adaptedness of 
6 ^ 


66 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

the miracles, not only to distinguish the power of 
the true God, but to destroy the confidence placed 
in the protection and power of the idols. 

The first miracle, while it authenticated the mis- 
sion of Moses, destroyed the serpents, which among 
the Egyptians were objects of worship. Thus evin- 
cing, in the outset, that their gods could neither help 
the people, nor save themselves. 

The second miracle was directed against the rivei 
JNile, another object which they regarded with re- 
ligious reverence. This river they held sacred, as 
the Hindoos do the Ganges ; and even the fish in 
'ts waters they revered as objects of worship. They 
drank the water with reverence and delight ; and 
supposed that a divine etficacy dwelt in its waves 
to heal diseases of the body. The water of this 
their cherished object of idolatrous homage was 
transmuted to blood ; and its finny idols became a 
mass of putridity. 

The third miracle was directed to the accom- 
plishment of the same end — the destruction of faith 
in the river as an object of worship. The waters 
of the Nile were caused to send forth legions of 
frogs, which infested the whole land, and became 
a nuisance and a torment to the people. Thus 
their idol, by the power of the true God was pollu- 
ted, and turned into a source of pollution to its 
worshippers. 

By the fourth miracle of a series constantly in- 
creasing in power and severity, lice came upon man 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


67 


and beast throughout the land. “ Now if it be re- 
membered,” says Giieg, “that no one could approach 
the altars of Egypt upon whom so impure an insect 
harbored ; and that the priests, to guard against the 
slightest risk of contamination, wore only linen gar- 
ments, arid shaved their heads and bodies every 
day,* the severity of this miracle, as a judgment 
upon Egyptian idolatry may be imagined. Whilst 
it lasted, no act of worship could be performed, and 
so keenly was this felt that the very magicians ex- 
claimed — “ this is the finger of God.” 

The fifth miracle was designed to destroy the 
trust of the people in Beelzebub, or the Fly-god, who 
was reverenced as their protector from visitations 
of swarms of ravenous flies, which infested the 
land, generally about the time of the dog days, and 
removed only, as they supposed, at the will of this 
idol. The miracle now wrought by Moses, evinced 
the impotence of Beelzebub, and caused the people 
to look elsewhere for relief from the fearful visita- 
tion under which they were suffering. 

The sixth miracle which destroyed the cattle, 
excepting those of the Israelites, was aimed at the 
destruction of the entire system of brute worship. 
This system, degrading and bestial as it was, had 
become a monster of many heads in Egypt. They 
had their sacred bull, and ram, and heifer, and goat, 
md many others, all of which were destroyed by 


Every third day according to Herodotus. 


68 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

the agency of the God of Mcses. Thus by one act 
of power, Jehovah menifested his own supremacy, 
and destroyed the very existence of their brute idols. 

Of the peculiar fitness of the sixth plague (the 
seventh miracle) says the writer before quoted, the 
reader will receive a better impression, when he is 
reminded that in Egypt there were several altars 
upon which human sacrifices were occasionally of- 
fered, when they desired to propitiate Typhon, or 
the Evil Principle. These victims being burned 
alive, their ashes were gathered together by tlie offi- 
ciating priests, and thrown up into the air, in order 
that evil might be averted from every place to 
which an atom of the ashes was wafted. By the di- 
rection of Jehovah, Moses took a handful of ashes 
from the furnace, (which very probably, the Egyp- 
tians at this time had frequently used to turn aside 
the plagues with which they were Smitten) and he 
cast it into the air, as they were accustomed to do ; 
and instead of averting evil, boils and blains fell 
upon all the people of the land. Neither king, nor 
priest, nor people, escaped. Thus the bloody rites 
of Typhon became a curse to the idolaters— the su- 
premacy of Jehovah was afiirmed ; and the deliver- 
ance of the Israelites insisted upon. 

The ninth miracle was directed against the wor- 
ship of Sarapis, whose peculiar office was supposed 
to be to protect the country from locusts. At pe- 
riods these destructive insects came in clouds upon 
the land, and like an overshadowing curse they 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 69 

blighted the fruits of the field and the verdure of 
the forest. At the command of Moses these terri- 
ble insects came — and they retired only at his bid- 
ding. Thus was the impotence of Serapis* made 
manifest, and the idolaters taught the folly of trust- 
ing in any other protection, than that of Jehovah, 
he God of Israel. 

The eighth and tenth miracles were directed 
igainst the worship of Isis and Osiris, to whom and 
vhe river Nile, they awarded the first place* in the 
long catalogue of their idolatry. These idols were 
originally the representatives of the sun and moon ; 
they were believed to control the light and the ele- 
ments ; and their worship prevailed in some form 
among all the early nations. The miracles direct- 
ed against the worship of Isis and Osiris must have 
made a deep impression on the minds both of the 
Israelites and the Egyptians. In a country where 
rain seldom falls — where the atmosphere is always 
calm, and the light of the heavenly bodies always 
continued, what was the horror pervading all minds 
during the elemental war described in the Hebrew 
record ! — during the long period of three days and 
three nights, while the gloom of thick darkness 
settled, like the out-spread pall of death over the 

* Against the worship of the Nile, two miracles were directed, 
and two likewise against Isis and Osiris, because they were sup- 
posed to be the supreme gods. Many placed the Nile first, as 
they said it had power to water Egypt independently of the ac- 
tion of the elements. 


70 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

whole land ! Jehovah of Hosts summoned Nature 
to proclaim him the true God — the God of Israel 
asserted his supremacy, and exerted his power to 
degrade the idols — destroy idolatry, and liberate 
the descendants of Abraham from the land of their 
bondage. 

The Almighty having thus revealed himself as 
the true God, by miraculous agency, and pursued 
those measures, in the exercise of his power, which 
were directly adapted to destroy the various forms 
of idolatry which existed in Egypt, the eleventh 
and last miracle was a judgment, in order to mani- 
fest to all minds, that Jehovah was the God who 
executed judgment in the earth. 

The Egytians had, for a long time, cruelly op- 
pressed the Israelites, and to put the finishing hor- 
ror to their atrocities, they had finally slain at their 
birth, the offspring of their victims : and now God, 
in the exercise of infinite justice, visited them with 
righteous retribution. In the mid-watches of the 
night, the ‘ Angel of the Pestilence’ was sent to the 
dwellings of Egypt, and he ‘ breathed in the face’ 
of all the first-born in the land. In the morning, 
the hope of every family, from the palace to the cot- 
tage, was a corpse. What mind can imagine the 
awful consternation of that scene, when an agoni 
zing wail rose from the stricken hearts of all the pa- 
rents in the nation ! The cruel task-masters were 
taught, by means which entered their soifis, that the 
true God, was a God not only of power but of judg- 


PLAN OP SALVATION 


71 


ment, and as such, to be feared by evil-doers, and 
reverenced by those that do well. 

The demonstration, therefore, is conclusive, that 
in view of the idolatrous state of the world, and 
especially in view of the character and circumstan- 
es of the Israelites, the true God could have made 
a revelation of Himself in no other way than by the 
means and in the manner of the miracles of Egypt ; 
and none but the .true God could have revealed 
himself in this way.* 

* In accordance with the foregoing are the intimations given 
in the Bible of the design of the miracles of Egypt. By these 
exhibitions of Divine power God said — «Ye/’ the Israelites, 
« and Pharaoh shall know that ! am Jehovah.” 

Miracles, moreover, was the ev .dence that Pharaoh required. — 
Ex. 7 : 9, God said to Moses, that when he should present him- 
self as the Divine legate, and Pharaoh should require a miracle, 
to perform it accordingly. 

In relation to the destructio i of idolatry, the design of Jehovah 
is expressly announced Ex. 1 1 : 12, « Against all tthe Gods of 
Egypt will I execute judgcent — I am Jehovah.” 

See also, Ex. 18 : 11. 


72 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


CHAPTER IV. 

CONCERNING WHAT WAS NECESSARY AS THE FIRST 
STEP IN THE PROCESS OF REVELATION. 

By the miracles of Egypt, the false views and 
corrupt habits of the Israelites were, for the time 
being, in a great measure removed. Previously 
they had believed in a plurality of Gods ; and al- 
though they remembered the God of Abraham, yet 
they had, as is evident from notices in the Bible, as- 
sociated with his attribute of almighty power (the 
only attribute well understood by the Patriarchs) 
many of the corrupt attributes of the Egyptian 
idols. Thus the idea of God was debased by hav- 
ing grovelling and corrupt' attributes superinduced 
upon it. By miraculous agency these dishonorable 
views of the Divine character were removed — their 
minds were emptied of false impressions in order 
that they might be furnished with the true idea and 
the true attributes of the Supreme Being. 

But how could minds in the infancy of know- 
ledge respecting God and human duty ; having all 
they had previously learned remOA^ed, and being 
now about to take the first step in their progress — 
how could the first principles of Divine Imowledge 
. be conveyed to such fninds? 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


73 


One thing in the outset would evidently be neces- 
sary : knowledge, as the mind is constituted, can be 
communicated in no other way than progressively , 
it would be necessary, therefore, that they should, 
begin with the elementary principles, and proceed 
through all the stages of their education. The 
mind cannot receive at once all the parts of a sys- 
tem in religion, science, or any other department of 
human knowledge. One fact or idea must be predi- 
cated upon another, just as one stone rests upon an- 
other, from the foundation to the top of the building 
There are successive steps in the acquisition of 
knowledge, and every step in the mind’s progress 
must be taken from advances already made. God 
has inwrought the law of progression into the nature 
of things, and observes it in his own works. From 
the springing of a blade to the formation of the 
mind, or of a world, every thing goes forward by 
consecutive steps. 

It was necessary, therefore, in view of the estab- 
lished laws of the mind, that the knowledge of God 
and human duty should be imparted to the Israel- 
ites by successive communications — necessary that 
there should be a first step, or primary principle, for 
a starting point, and then a progression onward and 
upward to perfection. 

In accordance with these principles, God, in the 
introduction of the Mosaic dispensation, revealed 
only his essential existence to the Israelites. In 
Exodus- 3 : 13, 14, it is stated that Moses enquired 
7 


74 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


of God, “ Behold when I come unto the children of 
Israel and say unto them — The God of your fathers 
hath sent me unto you, and they shall say unto me, 
What is his name? What shall I say unto them? 
And God said, I am the I AM : and he said, thus 
shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM 
hath sent me unto you.” In the Hebrew text, the 
simple form of the verb is used, corresponding with 
the first person present, indicative, of the English 
verb to he. Simply ‘ I am,’ conveying no idea but 
that of personality and existence. What He was, 
besides his existence thus revealed, was afterwards 
to be learned. This was a revelation of Divine be- 
ing— a nucleus of essential deity, as a foundation 
fact of the then new dispensation, upon which God, 
by future manifestations, might engraft the attri- 
butes of his nature. 

Thus, at the outset of the dispensation, there was 
thrown into their minds a first truth. God revealed 
his Divine existence ; and the idea of God, thus 
revealed, was in their minds, without any other at- 
tribute being connected with it than that of infinite 
power- an attribute of the Godhead which all men 
derive from the works of nature — which was known 
to the Patriarchs as belonging to the true God, and 
which was now, by the miracles manifesting su- 
preme power, appropriated to I am— Jehovah— the 
God of the Israelites. 

Thus were this peculiar people carried back to the 
first principles of natural religion — their mind dis- 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


75 


embarrassed from false notions previously entertain- 
ed, and the true idea of the supreme God and Judge 
of men revealed. By these providences, they were 
prepared, in a manner consistent with the nature of 
things and the nature of mind, to receive a further 
revelation of the moral attributes of Jehovah, whom 
they now recognised as the Supreme God. 


X 


76 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


CHAPTER V. 

CONCERNING THE NECESSITY OP APPECTIONATE 
OBEDIENCE TO GOD ) AND THE MANNER OP 
PRODUCING THAT OBEDIENCE IN THE HEARTS 
OP THE ISRAELITES. 

The following principles in relation to the affec- 
tions will be recognised by consciousness as true in 
the experience of every man. As they lie at the 
foundation of the moral exercises of the soul, and 
as they relate to the sources and central principles 
of all true religion, it will be necessary for the reader 
to notice them, in order that he may see their appli- 
cation in subsequent pages. 

1. The affections of the soul inove in view of 
certain objects, or in view of certain qualities be- 
lieved to exist in those objects. The affections never 
move — in familiar words — the heart never loves, 
unless love be produced by seeing, or hy helievmg 
that we see some lovely and excellent qualities in 
the object. When the soul believes those good 
qualities to be possessed by another, and especially, 
when they are exercised towards us, the affections, 
like a magnetized needle, tremble with life, ar d turn 
towards their object. 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


77 


2. The affections are not subject to the will nei- 
ther our own will nor any other will can directly 
control them. I cannot will to love a being who 
does not appear to me lovely, and who does not 
exhibit the qualities adapted to move the affections : 
nor can I, by command, or by any other effort of 
will, cause another being to love me. The affections 
are not subject to command. You cannot force an- 
other to love, or respect, or even, from the heart, to 
obey. Such an attitude assumed to produce love, 
would invariably produce disaffection rather than 
affection. No one, (as a matter or fact) thinks the 
affections subject to the will, and, therefore, men 
never endeavor to obtain the affections of others 
solely by command, but by exhibiting such a char- 
acter and conferring such favors as they know are 
adapted to move the heart. An effect could as 
easily exist without a cause, as affection in the bo- 
som of any human being, which was not produced 
by goodness or excellencies seen, or believed to exist, 
in some other being. 

3. The affections, although not governed by the 
will, do themselves greatly influence the will. All 
acts of will produced entirely by pure affection for 
another are disinterested. Cases of the affections 
influencing the will are common in the experience 
of every one. There is probably no one living who 

* We state the facts in the case, of which every man is con- 
scious in his own experience, without regard to the theories of 
sects in religion or philosophy. 

1 * 


78 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


has not, at some period of his life, had affection for 
another, so that it gave more pleasure to please the 
object of his love than to please himself. Love for 
another ahoays influences the will to act in such a 
way as will please the object loved. The individ- 
ual loving acts in view of the desires of the loved 
object, and such acts are disinterested^ not being 
done with any selfish end in view, but for the sake 
of another. So soon as the affections move towards 
an object, the will is proportionably influenced to 
please and benefit that object ; or, if a superior being, 
to obey his will and secure his favor. 

4. All happy obedience must arise from affection. 
Affectionate obedience blesses the spirit which yields 
it, if the conscience approve the object loved and 
obeyed : while, on the contrary, no happiness can 
be experienced from obedience to any being that we 
do not love. To obey externally either God, or a 
parent, from no other than interested motives, would 
be sin. The devil might be obeyed for the same 
reasons. Love must, therefore, constitute an essen- 
tial element in all proper obedience to God. 

5. When the affections of two beings are recipro- 
cally fixed upon each other, they constitute a bond 
of union and sympathy peculiarly strong and ten- 
der : — those things that affect the one affecting the 
other, in proportion to the strength of affection exist- 
ing between them. One conforms- to the will of 
the other, not from a sense of obligation merely, 
but from choice ; and the constitution of the soul 


. PLAN OP SALVATION. 79 

is such that the sweetest enjoyment of which it is 
capable arises from the exercise of reciprocal affec- 
tion. 

6. ' When the circumstances of an individual are 
such that he is exposed to constant suffering and 
great danger ; the more afflictive his situation the 
more grateful love will he feel for affection and 
oenefits received under such circumstances. If his 
circumstances were such that he could not relieve 
himself, and such that he must suffer greatly or 
perish ; and, while in this condition, if another, 
moved by benevolent regard for him, should come 
to aid and save him, his affection for his deliverer 
would be increased by a sense of the danger from 
which he was rescued. 

7. It is an admitted principle that protracted and 
close attention always fixes the fact attended to 
deeply in the memory ; and the longer and more 
intensely the mind attends to any subject, other 
subjects proportionably lose their power to interest. 
The same is true in relation to the affections. The 
longer and more intensely we contemplate an object 
in that relation which is adapted to draw out the 
affections, the more deeply will the impression be 
made upon the heart, as well as upon the memory. 
The most favorable circumstances possible to fix an 
impression deeply upon the heart and memory are, 
First, that there should be protracted and earnest 
attention ; and Second, that at the same time that 
the impression is made, the emotions of the soul 


80 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

should bo alive with excitement. Without these, 
an impression made upon the heart and the memory 
would be slight and easily elFaced ; while, on the 
contrary, an impression made during intense atten- 
tion and excited feeling, will be engraved, as with a 
pen of steel, upon the tablets of the soul. 

Now, with these principles in mind, mark the 
means used to fix the attention and to excite the 
susceptibilities of the Israelites, and while in that 
state of attention and excitement, to draw their af- 
fections to God. 

The children of Israel were suffering the most 
grievous bondage, which had arrived at almost an 
intolerable degree of cruelty and injustice. Just 
at this crisis, the God of their fathers appears as 
their deliverer, and Moses is commissioned as His 
prophet. When the people are convened and their 
minds aroused by the hopes of deliverance, their 
attention is turned to two parties: one Pharaoh 
their oppressor and the slayer of their first born, 
and the other the God of Abraham, who jiow ap- 
peared as their deliverer, espousing their cause and 
condescending personally to oppose Himself to their 
oppressor. Then a scene ensues adapted in all its 
circumstances to make a deep and enduring im- 
poession upon their memory and their heart. — The 
God of Abraham seems, by his judgments, to have 
forced the oppressor to relent, and to let the people 
go. At this point, hope and encouragement pre- 
dominate in their minds. Now their oppressors 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


81 


heart is hardened, and he renews his cruelty ; but 
while their hopes are sinking, they are again re- 
vived and strengthened, by finding that God con- 
tinues to usd means to induce Pharaoh to release 
the captives. Thus, for a considerable length of 
time, all the powers of excitability in their nature 
are aroused to activity. Towards that Being who 
had so graciously interposed in their behalf, they 
felt emotions of hope, gratitude, love, and admira 
tion. Towards their oppressor, feelings of an op- 
posite character must have been engendered ; and 
this state of excited suspense — the emotions vascil- 
lating between love and hatred, hope and fear — 
was continued until the impression became fixed 
deep in their souls. 

Keeping in mind the fact, that the more we need 
a benefactor and feel that need, the stronger will be 
our feelings of gratitude and love for the being who 
interposes in our behalf — notice further : When 
through the interposition of the Almighty, the Isra- 
elites were delivered, and had advanced as far as the 
Red Sea, another appeal was made to their affec- 
tions which was most thrilling, and adapted to call, 
by one grand interposition, all their powers of grati- 
tude and love into immediate and full exercise. 

The army of the Israelites lay encamped on the 
margin of the Red Sfia, when, suddenly, they were 
surprised by the approaching host of Pharaoh. — 
Before them was the sea, and behind them an ad- 
vancing hostile army If they went forward, they 


82 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


would find death in the waves; if they returned 
backward, it would be to meet the swords of their 
pursuers. A rescue, by earthly means, from death, 
or bondage more severe than they had ever borne, 
was impossible. Just at this crisis of extremity, 
Jehovah appears as their deliverer. The bospm of 
the pathless sea is cleft by the power of God. The 
stricken waters recoil upon themselves on either 
side. The Israelites pass over in safety. The Egyp- 
tian host enter and are overwhelmed in the waters. 

Now, it may be afiirmed without qualification, 
that, in view of the nature and circumstances of the 
Israelites, no combination of means, not including 
the self-sacrifice of the benefactor himself, could be 
so well adapted to elicit and absorb all the afiections 
of the soul, as this wonderful series of events. That 
this result was accomplished by these means, is au- 
thenticated by the history given in the Bible. When 
the people were thus delivered, they stood upon the 
other side of the sea, and their afiections, in answer 
to the call which God had made upon them, gushed 
forth in thanksgiving and praise. Hear the the re- 
sponse of their hearts, and their allusion to the cause 
which produced that response — 

“ O sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed 
gloriously : The horse and his Hder he hath thrown 
into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, 
and he is become my salvation. He is my God ; 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 83 

and I will prepare him a habitation ; my father’s 
God, and I will exalt him.” Ex. 15: 1, 2, &c. 

Thus was the attention of the whole nation 
turned to the true God. An impression of his 
goodness was fixed deeply in their memory, and 
their atfections were drawn out and fastened upon 
the true object of worship. Now this, as was shown 
in the commencement of the chapter, was necessa- 
ry, before they could offer worship either honora- 
ble or acceptable to God. The end was accomplish- 
ed by means adapted to the nature of the human 
soul and to the circumstances of the Israelites ; and 
by means which no being in the Universe but the 
Maker of the soul could use. The demonstration 
is therefore perfect, that the Scripture narrative is 
true, and that no other narrative, differing materi- 
ally from this in its principles, could be true. 


84 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


CHAPTER VT. 

CONCERNING THE DESIGN AND NECESSITY OP 
THE MORAL LAW. 

At this stage of our progress it will be useful 
to recapitulate the conclusions at which we have 
arrived, and thus make a point of rest from which 
to extend our observation further into the plan of 
God for redeeming the world. This review is the 
more appropriate as we have arrived at a period in 
the history of God’s providence with Israel, which 
presents them as a. people prepared (so far as im- 
perfect material could be prepared) to receive that 
model which God might desire to impress upon 
the nation. 

1. They were bound to each other by all the 
ties of which human nature is susceptible, and thus 
rendered compact -and united, so that every thing 
national, whether in sentiment or practice, would 
be received and cherished with unanimous, and 
fervent, and lasting attachment : and furthermore, 
by a long and rigorous bondage, they had been ren- 
dered, for the time being at least, humble and de- 
pendent. Thus they were disciplined by a course 
of providences, adapted to fit them to receive in- 


/ 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 85 

stmction from their benefactor with a teachable 
and grateful spirit. 

2. Their minds were shaken off from idols ; and 
Jehovah, by a revelation made to them, setting forth 
his name and nature, had revealed himself as a 
DIVINE BEING, and by his works, had manifested 
his almighty power : so that when their minds were 
disabused of wrong views of the Godhead, an idea 
of the first, true, and essential nature of God was 
revealed to them ; and they were thus prepared to 
receive a knowledge of the attributes of that divine 
essence. 

3. They had been brought to contemplate God 
as their Protector and Savior. Appeals the most 
affecting and thrilling had been addressed to their 
affections ; and they were thus attached to God as 
their Almighty temporal Savior, by the ties of grati- 
tude and love for the favor which he had manifest- 
ed to them. 

4. When they had arrived on the farther shore 
of the Red Sea, thus prepared to obey God and wor- 
ship him with the heart, they were without laws 
either civil or moral. As yet, they had never pos- 
sessed any national or social organization. They 
were therefore prepared to receive, without predi- 
lection or prejudice, that system of moral instruc- 
tion and civil polity, which God might reveal, as 
best adapted to promote the moral interests of the 
nation. 

From these conclusions we may extend our vis- 
8 


86 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

ion forward into the system of revelation. This 
series of preparations would certainly lead the mind 
to the expectation that what was still wanting, and 
what they had been thus miraculously prepared to 
receive, would be granted — which was a knowledge 
of the moral character of God, and a moral law 
prescribing their duty to God and to men. With- 
out this, the plan that had been maturing for gene- 
rations, and had been carried forward thus far by 
wonderful exhibitions of Divine wisdom and power, 
would be left unfinished, just at the point where 
the finishing process was necessary. 

But, besides the strong probability which the pre- 
vious preparation would produce, that there would 
be a revelation of moral law, there are distinct and 
conclusive reasons, evincing its necessity. 

The whole experience of the world has confirm- 
ed the fact, beyond the possibility of skepticism, 
that man cannot discover and establisli a perfect 
rule of human duty. Whatever may be said of the 
many excellent maxims expressed by different in- 
dividuals in different ages and nations, yet it is true 
that no system of duty to God and man, in any 
wise consistent with enlightened reason, has ever 
been established by human wisdom, and sustained 
by human sanctions ; and for reasons already sta- 
ted,* such a fact never can occur. 

But, it may be supposed that each man has, 
within himself, sufficient light from reason, and suf- 

* See chap. i. p. 28, et seq. 


PLAN OF SALVATION, 87 

ticient admonition from conscience, tc guide him- 
self, as an individual, in the path of truth and hap- 
piness A single fact will correct such a supposi- 
tion. Conscience, the great arbiter of the merit 
and demerit of human conduct, has little intuitive 
sen^-e of right, and is not guided entirely by rea- 
son, but is governed in a great measure by what 
men believe. Indeed, Faith is the legitimate regu- 
lator of the conscience. If a man has correct views 
of duty to God and men, he will have a correct 
conscience, but if he can, by a wrong view of mor- 
als and of the character of God, be induced to be- 
lieve that theft, or murder, or any vice, is right, his 
conscience will be corrupted by his faith. When 
men are brought to believe, as they frequently do 
believe in heathen countries, that it is right to com- 
mit suicide, or infanticide, as a religious duty, their 
conscience condemns them if they do not perform 
the act. Thus, that power in the soul which pro- 
nounces upon the moral character of human con- 
duct, is itself dependent upon, and regulated by the 
faith of the individual. It is apparent, therefore, 
that the reception and belief of a true rule of duty, 
accompanied with proper sanctions, will alone form 
in man a proper conscience. God has so constitu- 
ted the soul that it is necessary, in order to the regu- 
lation of its moral powers, thr t it should have a rule 
of duty, revealed under the sanction of its Maker’s 
authority ; otherwise its high moral powers would 
lie in dark and perpetual disorder. 


8 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


Further ; unless the .human soul be an exception 
God governs all things by laws adapted to theii 
proper nature. The laws which govern the mate- 
rial world are sketched in the books on natural 
science ; such are gravitation, affinity, mathematical 
motion. Those laws by which the irrational ani- 
mal creation is controled are usually called instincts. 
Their operation and design are sketched, to some 
extent, in treatises upon the instincts of animals. 
Such is the law which leads the beaver to build his 
dam, and all other animals to pursue some particu- 
lar habits instead of others. All beavers from the 
first one created to the present time, have been in- 
stinctively led to build a dam in the same manner, 
and so their instinct will lead them to build till the 
end of time. The law which drives them to the 
act is as necessitating as the law which causes the 
smoke to rise upwards. Nothing in the universe 
of God, animate or inanimate, is left without the 
government of appropriate law, unless that thing be 
the noblest creature of God — the human spirit. To 
suppose, therefore, that the human soul is thus left 
unguided by a revealed rule of conduct, is to sup 
pose that God cares for the less and not the greater 
— to suppose that He would constitute the moral 
powers of the soul so that a la’Cv was necessary for 
their guidance, and then reveal none — to suppx)se, 
especially in the case of the Israelites, that He 
would prepare a people to receive, and obey with a 
proper spirit, this necessary rule of duty, and yet 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 89 

give no rule. But, to suppose these things would 
be absurd ; it follows, therefore, that God would 
reveal to the Israelites a law for the regulation of 
their conduct in morals and religion. 

But, physical law or necessitating instinct would 
not be adapted in its nature to the government of a 
rational and moral being. The application of 
either to the soul would destroy its free agency. 
God has made man intelligent, and thereby adapted 
his nature to a rule which he understands. — ^Man 
has a will and a conscience : but he must under- 
stand the rule in order to will obedience, and he 
must believe the sanction by which the law is main- 
tained, before he can feel the obligation upon his 
conscience. A law, therefore, adapted , to man’s na- 
ture, must be addressed to the understanding — 
sanctioned by suitable authority ; and enforced by 
adequate penalties. 

In accordance with these legitimate deductions, 
God gave the Israelites a rule of life — the Moral 
Law — succinctly comprehended in the Ten Com- 
mandments. And as affectionate obedience is the 
only proper obedience, He coupled the facts which 
were fitted to produce affection with the command 
to obey; saying, “ I am Jehovah, thy God, whicli 
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and out 
of the house bondage” — therefore^ love me and 

KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS.* -* 


0 # * Deut. b ; 'passim. 


90 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


CHAPTER VIL 

CONCERNING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE IDEA OF HOLI- 
NESS, AND ITS TRANSFER TO JEHOVAH AS AN ATTRI- 
BUTE. 

As yet the Israelites were little acquainted with 
any attribute of the i am — Jehovah — except his 
infinite power and goodness ; and his goodness was 
known to them only as manifested in kindness and 
merc)^ towards themselves, as a peculiar people, 
distinguished from other nations, as the special 
objects of the Divine favor. They had a disposi- 
tion to worship Jehovah, and to regard the rights 
of each other according to his commandments ; but 
they knew as yet little of his moral attributes. Of 
the attribute of holiness — purity from sin, and 
opposition of nature to all moral and physical 
defilement — they knew comparatively nothing. 
After the law had been given, they knew that God 
required worship and obedience for himself, and 
just conduct towards others, but they did not know 
that his nature was hostile to all moral defilement 
of heart and life. And to this knowledge, as we 
have seen in the introduction, they could not, of 
themselves, attain. 

At the period of the deliverance from Egypt, 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 91 

every nation by which they were surrounded, wor- 
shipped unholy beings. Now, how were the Jews 
to be extricated from this difficulty, and made to 
understand, and feel the influence of the holy char- 
acter of God. The Egyptian idolatry in which 
they had mingled. Was beastly and lustful ; and one 
of their flrst acts of disobedience after their deliver 
ance, showed that their n ands were still dark, and 
their propensities corrupt. The golden calf which 
they desired should be erected for them, was not 
designed as an act of apostacy from Jehovah, who 
had delivered them from Egyptian servitude. When 
the image was made, it was proclaimed to be that 
God which brought them up out of the land of 
Egypt ; and when the proclamation of a feast, or 
idolatrous debauch, was issued by Aaron, it was de- 
nominated a feast, not to Isis or Osiris, but a feast 
to Jehovah ; and as such they held it.* But they 
offered to the holy Jehovah the unholy worship of 
the idols of Egypt. Thus they manifested their 
ignorance of the holiness of his nature, as well as 
the corruption of their own hearts. 

It was necessary, therefore, in order to promote 
right exercises of heart in religious worship, that 
the Israelites should be made acquainted with the 
holiness of God. The precise question, then, for 
solution is. How could the idea of God’s holiness 
be conveyed to the minds of the Israelites ? If it 
should be found that there is but one way in which 
•Ex. 32; 4,5. 


92 PHILOSOPHY OP THE 

it could be originated, according to the nature of 
mind, then it would follow, necessarily, that God 
would pursue that way, or he would have to alter 
the human constitution, in order to communicate a 
knowledge of his attribute of holiness. But, as it 
is matter of fact that the constitution of the mind 
has not been altered, it follows that that method 
would be pursued which is in accordance with the 
nature of mind, to convey the necessary knowledge. 
Now all practical knowledge is conveyed to the 
understanding through the medium of the senses. 
Whatever may be said about innate ideas by specu- 
lative philosophers, still all agree that all acquired 
knowledge must reach the mind through the medi- 
um of one of the five senses, or upon the occasion 
of their exercise. Through the senses the know- 
ledge of external objects is conveyed to the mind, 
and these simple ideas serve as material for reflec- 
tion, comparison and abstraction. 

The etymology of the Hebrew language, as writ 
ten by Moses, and spoken by the Isralites, furnishe 
an interesting illustration of the origin of the feV' 
abstract terms with which their minds were familia?. 
The abstract ideas of the Hebrew tongue may even 
now, in most instances, be traced to the object or 
circumstance whence they originated. Thus the 
idea of power, among the Hebrews, was derivec? 
from the h orn of an animal ; and the same word 
in Hebrew which signifies horn likewise signifies 
power, and may be translated in either way to sub 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 93 

the sense. The idea was originally conveyed 
through the eye, by noticing that the strength of 
the animal was exerted through its horn. The 
force thus exerted, especially when the animal was 
enraged, was the greatest which fell under their 
observation ; and sometimes, in its effects, it was 
disastrous and overwhelming. Hence, the horn 
soon became a figure to denote power, and when 
the idea was once originated and defined in their 
minds, they could apply it to any object which pro- 
duced a strong effect either upon the bodies or the 
minds of men. An idea of power likewise origin- 
ated froni the human hand, because through it man 
exerted his strength. The same word in Hebrew 
still expresses both the object and the idea derived 
from it — “ Life and death are in the power of the 
tongue,” reads literally — “ Life and death are in the 
hand of the tongue.” Sunshine, in Hebrew is 
synonymous with happiness : The idea being origi- 
nated by experiencing the pleasant feelings produced 
by the effects of a sunny day ; and when thus ori- 
ginated, it was applied to the same and similar feel- 
ings produced by other causes. The abstract idea 
of judgment or justice is derived from a word which 
signifies to cut or divide ; it being originated by 
the circumstance that when the primitive hunters 
had killed a stag, or other prey, one divided the flesh 
with a knife, among those who assisted in the pur- 
suit, distributing a just portion to each. Thus, the 
act of cutting and dividing their prey, which was 


94 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

the first circumstance that called into exercise and 
placed before their senses the principle of justice, 
was the circumstance from which they derived this 
most important abstract idea. 

Other instances might be mentioned. These are 
sufficient to show the manner in which the abstract 
ideas of the Hebrews were originated. And so, 
every new idea which found a place in their under- 
standing, had to be originated, primarily, by an im- 
pression made 3y exteriial objects upon the senses. 

Further, all ideas which admit of the significa- 
tion of more or most perfect, can be originated only 
by a comparison of one object with another. More 
lovely, or more pure, can only be predicated of one 
thing by comparison with another which it excels 
in one of these respects. By a series of compari- 
sons, each one exceeding the last in beauty or purity, 
an idea of the highest degree of perfection may be 
produced. Thus one flower may be called lovely., 
another more lovely, and the rose the most lovely } 
and the idea of the su'perior beauty of the rose 
would be originated by the comparison or con- 
trast between it and other flowers of less beauty. 
It is not said that the rose would not appear lovely 
without comparison, but the idea of its superior 
loveliness is originated by comparison, and it could 
be derived in no other way. ' 

With these principles in mind, we return to the in- 
quiry, Hoio could the idea of God^s holiness, or mo- 
ral purity, he conveyed to the minds of the Jews 7 


PLAN OF SALVATION. ^ 95 

First, mark the principles — (1.) There was not 
an object in the material world which would con- 
vey to the mind the idea of God’s holiness. — (2.) 
The idea, therefore, would have to be originated, 
and thrown into their mind, through the senses, by 
a process instituted for that express purpose. (3.) 
The plan to originate the idea, in order to meet the 
constitution of the mind, must consist of a series of 
comparisons. 

Now, mark the correspondency between these 
principles, founded upon the laws of the mind, and 
that system devised to nstruct the Israelites in the 
knowledge of God. 

In the outset, the animals common to Palestine 
were divided, by command of Jehovah, into clean 
and unclean ; in this way a distinction was made, 
and the one class in comparison with the other was 
deemed to be of a purer and better kind. From 
the class thus distinguished, as more pure than the 
other, one was selected to offer as a sacrifice. It 
was not only to be chosen from the clean beasts, 
but, as an individual, it was to be without spot or 
blemish. Thus it was, in their eyes, purer than 
the other class, and purer than other individuals of 
its own class. This sacrifice, the people were not 
deemed worthy, in their own persons, to offer unto 
Jehovah ; but it was to be offered by a class of men 
who were distinguished from their brethren, puri- 
fied, and set apart for the service of the priest’s 
office Thus the idea of purity, originated from 


96 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

^tw7 sources ; the purified priest and the pure ani- 
mal purified, were united in the offering of the sa- 
crifit’e. But before the sacrifice could be offered, 
it was washed with clean water — and the priest 
had, in some cases, to wash himself, and officiate 
without his sandals. Thus, when one process ol 
comparison after another had attached the idea of 
superlative purity to the sacrifice — in offering it to 
Jehovah, in order that the contrast between the pu- 
rity of God and the highest degrees of earthly pu- 
rity might be seen, neither priest, people, nor sacri- 
fice was deemed sufficiently pure to come into his 
presence ; but the offering was made in the court 
without the holy of holies. In this manner, by a 
process of comparison, the character of God, in 
point of purity, was placed indefinitely above them- 
selves and their sacrifices.* 

And not only in the sacrifices, but throughout the 
whole Lcf/itical economy, the idea of purity per- 
vaded all its ceremonies and observances. The 
camp was purified — the people were purified — 
every thing was purified and re-purified ; and each 
process of -he ordinances was designed to refiect 

* It is not argued that no other end was designed and accom- 
plished by the arbitrary separation of animals into classes of clean 
and unclean. By this means the Jews were undoubtedly exclu- 
ded from partaking in the feasts of the heathen around, who ate 
iiose animals which were forbidden to them. An excellent wri- 
ter observes that it is characteristic of the wisdom of God to ac- 
jonplish many ends by a single act of Providence. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


97 


purity upon the others ; until, finally that idea of 
purity formed in the mind and rendered intense by 
the convergence of so many rays, was by com- 
parison, referred to the idea of God — and the idea 
of God in their minds, being that of an infinitely 
powerful and good Spirit, hence, purity, as a char- 
acteristic or attribute of such a nature, would ne- 
cessarily assume a moral aspect, because it apper- 
tained to a moral being — it would become moral pu- 
rity, or holiness. Thus they learned, in the senti- 
ment of Scripture, that God was of too pure eyes 
to look upon iniquity. 

That the idea of moral purity in the minds of 
the Israelites was thus originated by the machinery 
of the Levitical dispensation, is supported, not only 
by the philosophy of the thing, but by many allu- 
sions in the scriptures. Such allusions are frequent 
both in the writers of the Old and of the New dis- 
pensations ; evidencing that, in their minds, the idea 
of moral purity was still symbolized by physical 
purity. The rite of Baptism is founded upon this 
symbolical analogy. The external washing with 
water being significant of the purifying influence 
of the Holy Spirit. St. John saw in vision the un- 
defiled in heart clothed with linen pure and white ; 
evincing, that to the mind of the Jew, such vest- 
ments as the high priest wore, wher he entered the 
holy of holies, were still emblematical of moral pu- 
rity. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, which is an 
apostolic exposition of the spiritual import of the 
9 


98 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


Levitical institution, so far as that institution particu 
larly concerns believers under the New Testament 
dispensation, we have the foregoing view of the 
design of ceremonial purification expressly con- 
firmed. “It was therefore necessary,” says Paul 
to the Hebrews, “ that the patterns of things in the 
heavens should be purified with these, (i. e. with 
these purifying processes addressed to the senses) 
but the heavenly things themselves with better sac- 
rifices than these.” The plain instruction of which 
is, that the parts and processes of the Levitical 
economy were patterns addressed to the senses of 
unseen things in heaven, and that the purifying of 
those patterns indicated the spiritual purity of the 
spiritual things which they represented. 

There is, finally, demonstrative evidence of the 
fact, that the idea of perfect moral purity, as connect- 
ed with the idea of God, is now^ and always has 
been the same which was originated and conveyed 
to the minds of the Jews by the machinery of the 
Levitical dispensation. The Hebrew word lanp 
qiiadhoshj was used to express the idea of purity as 
originated by the tabernacle service. The literal 
definition is, to be piirCj to be purified for 

sacred icses. The word thus originated and con- 
veying this meaning is employed in the Scriptures 
to express the moral purity or holiness of God.* In 
the New Testament this word is translated by the 
Greek term Ay.o?, agios, but the Hebrew idea is con- 
• tlTD my holy name. Lev. 20; 3. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


99 


iiected with the Greek word. In King James’s 
version this Greek word is rendered by the Saxon 
term holy — the Saxon word losing its original im- 
p()rt, [ivhole^ wholly^ and taking that of the Hebrew 
derived through the Greek. So that our idea of the 
holiness of God is the same which was oriofinated 
by the Levitical ceremonies ; and there is no other 
word, so far as I have been able to examine, in any 
language, which conveys this idea. Nor is there 
any idea among any people that approximates 
closely to the Scripture idea of holiness, unless, the 
words received some shades of its signification from 
the Bible.* 

Here, then, the idea of God’s moral purity was 
conveyed by the Mosaic economy in a manner in 
accordance with the constitution and the condition 
of. the Jewish mind. This same idea has descend- 
ed'from the Hebrew, through the Greek to our own 
language, and there is, so far as known, no other 
word in the world, iwhich conveys to the mind the 

• One of the principal difficulties which the Missionary meets 
with, according to letters in the Missionary reports, is, that of 
conveying to the mind of the heathen, the idea of the holiness of 
God. They find no such idea in their minds, and they can use 
no words in their language by which to convey the full and true 
force of the thought. The true idea, therefore, if communicated 
at all, must be conveyed by a periphrasis, and by labored illus- 
tration. This obstacle will be one of the most difficult to sur- 
mount in all languages ; and it cannot be perfectly overcome, till 
the Christian teacher becomes perfectly familiar with the Ian- 
guage of those whom he wishes to instruct. 


100 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


true idea of God’s moral pur.'ty, but that originated 
by the institution which God prescribed to Moses 
upon the Mount.’* **' 

The demonstration then is conclusive, both from 
philosophy and fact, that the true and necessary 
idea of God’s attribute of holiness was originated by 
the ‘‘ patterns” of the Levitical economy, and that it 
could have been communicated to mankind, at the 
first, in no other wa^Lf 


* Ex. 25 : 9. 

t The foundation principle of that school of skepticism, at the 
head of which are the atheistical materialists, is, that all know- 
ledge is derived through the medium of the senses, and that as 
God is not an object of sense, men can have no knowledge of 
his being or attributes. Now these deductions show that the 
truth of revealed religion may be firmly established upon iheii 
own proposition. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


lOX 


CHAPTER Vm. 

CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OP THE IDEAS OP 
JUSTICE AND MERCY, AND THEIR TRANSFER 
TO THE CHARACTER OF JEHOVAH. 

Holiness and justice, although they convey to 
the mind ideas somewhat distinct from each other, 
yet the import of the one is shaded into that of the 
other. Holiness signifies the purity of the Divine 
nature from moral defilement ; while justice signi- 
fies the relation which holiness causes God to sus- 
tain to men, as the subjects of the Divine govern- 
ment. In relation to God, one is subjective, declar- 
ing his freeedom from sin ; the other objective, de- 
claring his opposition to sin, as the transgression of 
the divine law. The Israelites might know that 
God was holy, and that he required of them clean 
hands and a clean heart in worship, and yet not un- 
derstand the full demerit of transgressing the will 
of God, or the intensity of the Divine opposition to 
sin. God had given them the moral law, and they 
knew that he required them to obey it ; but what, 
in the mind of God, was the proper desert of diso- 
beying it they did not know. They had been ac- 
customed, like all idolaters, to consider the desert 
9 * 


102 PHILOSOPHY OP THE 

of moral transgression uncertain and unequal. Now 
they had to learn the immutable justice of the Su- 
preme Being — that his holiness was not a passive 
quality, but an active attribute of his nature, and 
not only the opposite, but the antagonist principle 
to sin. 

In what manner^ then^ could a knowledge of the 
Divine Justice^ or of the demerit of sin in the sight 
of God^ be conveyed to the minds of the Jews. 

There is but one way in which any being can 
manifest to other minds the opposition of his nature 
to sin. A lawgiver can manifest his views of the 
demerit of transgression in no other way than by 
the ^penalty which he inflicts upon the transgressor. 
In all beings who have authority to make law for 
the obedience of others, the conscience is the stand- 
ard which regulates the amount of punishment that 
should be inflicted upon the disobedient ; and the 
measure of punishment which conscience dictates, is 
just in proportion to the opposition which the law- 
giver feels to the transgression of his law ; i. e. the 
amount of regard which he has for his own law, 
will graduate the amount of opposition which he 
will feel to its transgression. The amount of oppo- 
sition which any being feels to sin is in proportion 
to the holiness of that being, and conscience will 
sanction penalty up to the amount of opposition 
which he feels to crime. 

If the father of a family felt no regard for the 
haw of the Sabbath, his conscience would not allow 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 103 

him to punish his children for violating, by folly or 
labor, a law which he did not himself respect. But 
a father who felt a sacred regard for the Divine 
law, would be required by his conscience to cause 
his children to respect the Sabbath, and to punish 
them if they disobeyed. The penalty which one 
felt to be wrong the other would feel to be right, 
because the disposition of the one towards the law 
was different from the other. 

The principle then is manifest, that the more 
holy and; just any being is, the more he is opposed 
to sin, and the higher penalty will his conscience 
sanction as the desert of transgressing the Divine 
law. Now, God being infinitely holy, he is, there- 
fore, infinitely opposed to sin, and the Divine con- 
science will enforce penalty accordingly. 

This is the foundation of penalty in the Divine 
mind. The particular point of inquiry is, How 
could the desert of sin^ as it existed in the mind 
of God^ he revealed to the Israelites 7 

If the penalty inflicted is sanctioned by the con- 
science of the lawgiver, it follows, as has been shown, 
that the opposition of his nature to the crime is in 
exact proportion to the penalty which he inflicts 
upon the criminal. Penalty, therefore, inflicted up- 
on the transgressor, is the only way by which the 
standard of justice, as it exists in the mind of God, 
could be revealed to men. 

The truth of this principle may be made appa 
rent by illustration. Suppose a father were to ex 


104 PHILOSOPHY OP THE 

press his will in relation to the government of his 
family, and the regulations were no sooner made, 
than some of his children should resist his authority, 
and disobey his commands. Now, suppose the fa- 
ther should not punish the offenders, but treat them 
as he did his obedient children. By so doing he 
would encourage the disobedient— discourage the 
obedient— destroy his own authority, and make the 
impression upon the minds of all his children that 
he had no regard for the regulations which he had 
himself made. And further, if these regulations 
were for the general good of the family, by not 
maintaining them, he would convince the obedient 
that he did not regard their best interests, but was 
the friend of the rebellious. And if he were to 
punish for the transgression but lightly, they would 
suppose that he estimated but lightly a breach of 
his commands, and they could not, from the consti- 
tution of their minds, suppose otherwise. But if 
the father, when one of the children transgressed, 
should punish him and exclude him from favor till 
he submitted to his authority, and acknowledged 
with a penitent spirit his offence, then the house- 
hold would be convinced that the father’s will was 
imperative, and that the only alternative presented 
to them was affectionate submission, or exclusion 
from the society of their father and his obedient 
children. Thus the amount of the father’s regard 
for his law, his interest in the well-being of his 
obedient children, and the opposition of his nature 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


105 


to disobedience, would be graduated in every child’s 
mind by the penalty which he inflicted for the 
transgression of his commands. 

So in the case of an absolute lawgivei : his hos- 
tility to crime could be known only by the penalty 
which he inflicted upon the criminal. If; for the 
crime of theft, he were to punish the offender only 
by the imposition of a trifling fine, the impression 
would be made upon every mind that he did not, 
ttc heart, feel much hostility to the crime of lar 
ceny. If he had the power, and did not punish 
crime at all, he would thus reveal to the whole na- 
tion that he was in league with criminals, and him- 
self a criminal at heart. 

So in relation to murder, if he were to let the 
culprit go free, or inflict upon him but a slight 
penalty, he would thus show that his heart was 
tainted with guilt, and that there was no safety for 
good men under his government. But should he 
fix a penalty to transgression — declare it to all his 
subjects, and visit every criminal with punishment 
in proportion to his guilt, he would show to the 
world that he regarded the law, and was opposed 
directly and forever to its transgression. 

In like manner, and in no other way, could God 
manifest to men his infinite justice and his regard 
for the laws of his kingdom. Did he punish for sin 
with but a slight penalty, the whole universe of 
mind would have good reason to believe that the 
God of heaven was but little opposed to sin. Did 


106 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

he punish it with the highest degree of penalty, it 
would.be evidence to the universe that his nature 
was in the highest degree opposed to sin and at- 
tached to holiness. 

Now, whatever may be said in relation to the 
application of these principles to future rewards 
and punishments, one thing will be apparent to all, 
which is all that the present argument requires to 
be admitted, that is — the mind of man would re- 
ceive an idea of the amount of God’s opposition to 
sin, only by the amount of penalty which he in- 
flicted upon the sinner. 

Having ascertained these premises, we return to 
the inquiry, How could the demerit of sin in the 
sight of God, or the idea of God’s attribute of 
justice, he conveyed to the minds of the Jews 7 

The people had now, in a good degree, a know- 
ledge of what sin was. In addition to the light of 
natural conscience, which might guide them to some 
extent in relation to their duties to each other, they 
had the Moral Law, with the commentary of Mo- 
ses, deflning its precepts and applying them to the 
conduct of life. Their minds were. thus enlightened 
in relation to sin in the following particulars. First, 
those acts which were a transgression of the posi- 
tive precepts of the Law. Second, omissions of 
duties enjoined in the Law ; and. Third, many acts 
which the spirit of the law would condemn, but 
which might not be defined in any particular pre- 
cept, would now be noticed by enlightened con- 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


107 


science, -as sin against Jehovah, their holy benefac- 
tor, and the giver of the law. 

Having thus been taught what was sin of com- 
mission and omission, one obvious design of the 
institution of sacrificBS,* and one which has been 
perceived and understood, both by the Jews and 
Gentiles, was to convey to the mind the just de- 
merit and proper penalty of sin. 

There were three classes of sacrifices in the old 
dispensation in which death was inflicted. The 
first, which Gentiles, as well as Jews were permit- 
ted to offer, was the holocaust; or whole burnt ofier- 
ing, which was entirely consumed by fire. Sacri- 
fices of this description seem to have been offered 
from the earliest ages. They were offered, as the 
best informed think, as an acknowledgement of, and 
atonement for, general sinfulness of life. They seem 
to have had reference to the fact, of which every 
man is conscious, that he often violates known duty, 
and does many things which the light of nature and 
conscience teaches him not to do. 

After the whole burnt offering, was the sin offer- 
ing, sacrificed for an atonement, when the individ- 

• The question whether the sacrifices, and the particular regu- 
lations concerning them, were of Divine origin, does not aflfect 
the argument. Whether they were originally institued by Divine 
command, or whether Moses, acting under Divine guidance, modi- 
fied an existing institution* and adapted it to the Divine purposes, 
both the design, and the end accomplished, would be the same. 
There are good reasons, however, for the opinion that sacrifices 
for sin were of Divine appointment. 


108 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

ual had transgressed any specific precept of the 
moral law. 

The trespass-offering differed only from the sin- 
offering, as the learned suppose, in this, that it was a 
sacrifice for sins of omission, or for the non-perform- 
ance of duty, while the sin-offering was made for a 
violation of the specific precepts of the Moral Law. 
Whether the design of the different classes of sacri- 
fices was as above specified or not, is not material, 
further than it shows how nicely the forms of the 
Levitical economy were adjusted to meet that vari- 
ed consciousness of sin, which the precepts of the 
law and an enlightened conscience would produce 
in the human soul. The material point to which 
attention is necessary, with reference to the present 
discussion, is that by which the death and destruc- 
tion of the animal, offered in sacrifice, was made to 
represent the desert of the sinner. 

When an individual brought a sacrifice, he de- 
livered it to the priest to be slain. He then laid his 
hands upon its head, thereby, in a form well under- 
stood among the Jews, transferring to it his sins ; 
and then the life of the sacrifice was taken as a sub- 
stitute for his own life. He was thus taught that the 
transgression of the law, or any act of sin against 
God, was worthy of death ; and that the sacrifice 
suffered that penalty in his stead. 

Further — The Jews had been taught that the 
blood of the sc^crifice was its life ; or rather the 
principle upon which the life of the body depended. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 109 

Upon this subject they had the following express 
instruction — “ For the life of the flesh is the blood ; 
and I have given it to you upon the altar to make 
an atonement for your souls : for it is the blood 
that maketh an atonement for the soul.”* Now, 
this blood, which the Jews were thus taught to be- 
lieve was the life of the sacrifice, was repeatedly 
sprinkled by the priest upon the mercy-seat and to- 
wards the holy place ; thus presenting the life of 
the sacrifice immediately in the presence of God j 
(the ineffable light, or symbol of God’s presence, 
rested over the mercy-seat between the cherubim) 
signifying, as plainly as forms, and shadows, and 
external types could signify, that life had been ren- 
dered up to God to make an atonement for their 
souls. 

Thus the idea was conveyed to their mind through 
the senses, that the desert of sin in the sight of God 
was the death of the soul. And while they stood 
praying in the outer court of the tabernacle, and be- 
held the- dark volume of smoke ascending from the 
fire that consumed the sacrifice which was burning 
in their steady how awful must have been the im- 
pression of the desert of sin, made by that dark 
volume of ascending smoke. The idea was dis- 
tinct and deeply impressed, that God’s justice was 
a consuming fire to sinners ; and that their souls 
escaped on .y through a vicarious atonement. 

As a picture in a child’s primer will convey an 

* Lev. 17: 11. 

10 


110 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

idea to the infant mind, long before it can be taught 
by abstract signs — so the Jews, in the infancy of 
their knowledge of God, and before there were any 
abstract signs to convey that knowledge, had thrown 
into their minds through the senses, the two essen- 
tial ideas of God’s justice and mercy — His justice 
in that the wages of sin is the death of the soul — 
and His mercy, in that God would pardon the sin- 
ner, if he confessed his sin, acknowledged the life 
of his soul forfeited, and oifered the life of the sacri- 
fice as his substitute. 

In this manner an idea of the desert of sin was 
conveyed to the minds of the Jews — God’s law 
honored ; and the utter hostility of the lawgiver to 
sin clearly manifested ; and God’s mercy was like- 
wise revealed as stated in the preceding paragraph. 
Thus in a manner accordant with the circumstances 
of the Jews, and by means adapted in their opera- 
tion to the constitution of nature, was the know- 
ledge of God’s attribute of Justice, and the relation 
which Mercy sustains to that attribute, fully revealed 
in the world ; and, in view of the nature of things 
it could have been revealed in no other way.* 

• Enquiring readers of the Old Testament often find many 
things announced in the name of God, which must seem to them 
inconsistent with the majesty of the Divine nature, unless they 
view those requirements in the light of the inquiry, « What im- 
pressions where they adapted to make upon the Jewish mind ?’» 
There are but few readers of the Old Testament who read on this 
subject intelligently. In this remark we do not refer to the his- 
torical or preceptive portions of these writings, but to the ele 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


Ill 


ments of the Mosaic institution. In order to see the design of 
many items of the system, we must consider those items as exhi- 
bitions to the sens'i's, designed chiefly, perhaps only, to produce 
right ideas, or to correct erroneous ones then existing, in the 
minds of the Jews. The inquiry ought not to be, what impres- 
sion are they adapted to produce upon our minds concerning God, 
but, what impression would the particular revelation make upon 
THEIR minds. An instance or two will illustrate these remarks. 

The adaptation to accomplish a necessary end is apparent in 
the scene at Sinai. The Israelites had been accustomed to an 
idolatry where the most common familiarities where practised 
with the idol gods. The idea of reverence and majesty which be- 
longs to the character of God, had been lost, by attaching the 
idea of divinity to the objects of sense. It was necessary, there- 
fore, that the idea of God should now be clothed, in their minds, 
with that reverence and majesty which properly belongs to it. 
The scene at Sinai was adapted to produce, and did produce for 
the time being, the right impression. The mountain was made 
to tremble to its base. A cloud of darkness covered its summit, 
from which the lightnings leaped out and thunders uttered their 
voices. In the words of a New Testament writer, there was 
« darkness, and blackness, and tempest.’’ It was ordered that 
neither man nor beast should touch the mountain lest they should 
be visited with death. The exhibition in all its forms was 
adapted to produce that sense of majesty and awe in view of the 
divine character which the Israelites needed to feel. Ic minds 
subjected to the influence of other circumstances than those 
which affected the character of the Israelites in Egypt, such 
manifestations might not be necessary ; but in the case of the 
Jews, accustomed as they had been to witness a besotting famil- 
iarity with idols, these manifestations were directly adapted to 
counteract low views of the Divine character, and to inspire the 
soul with suitable reverence in view of the infinite majesty and 
eternal power of the Being with whom they had to do. 

The testimony of the Bible in relation to the design of the ex- 


112 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


hibition at Sinai corroborates the views that have been given, 
« When the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off, and 
they said unto Moses, Speak thou urito us and we will hear : but 
let not God speak unto us lest we die. And Moses said unto the 
people. Fear not, for God has come to prove you, and that his fear 
may be before your faces that ye sin not.’’ — Ex. 20 : 18, 19. 

The scene which occurred afterwards, evinced the necessity ot 
this exhibition, and developed the result of the proof, [trial] that 
was made of their character. In the absence of Moses they re- 
quired an image of Jehovah to be made, and they feasted and 
< played’ — this last word having a licentious import — in its pres- 
ence. Thus, after trial of the strongest exhibitions upon their 
mind, some of them proved themselves so incorrigibly attached to 
licentious idolatry that they desired to worship Jehovah under the 
character of the Egyptian calf. They thus proved themselves 
unfit materitil, too corrupt for the end in view, and they were, 
in accordance with the reason of the case, destroyed.^. 

Another conviction necessary to be lodged in the minds of the 
Israelites, and impressed deeply and frequently upon their hearts, 
was faith' in the present and overruling God. This was the more 
'necessary, as no visible image of Jehovah was allowed in the 
camp. There were but two methods possible, by which their 
minds could be convinced of the immediate presence and power 
of God controling all the events of their history. Either such . 
exhibitions must be made that they would see certain ends ac- 
complished without human instrumentality ; or, they must see 
human instrumentality clothed with a power which it is not pos- 
sible in the nature of things, it should in itself possess. The 
circumstances connected with the fall of Jericho will illustrate 
the case. The people were required to surround the city, by a 
silent procession during seven days, bearing the sacred ark, and 
blowing with rude instruments which they used for trumpets. On 
the seventh day, the people were to shout after they had com- 
passed the city seven times ; and when they shouted, according 
to a Divine promise, the walls of the city fell to the ground. 


PLAN OF SALVATION 


113 


Now, here was a process of means in which there was no adap- 
tation to produce the external effect, in order that the internal 
effect, the great end of all revelation, might be produced — that 
they might be taught to recognise Jehovah as the present God of 
nature and providence, and rest their faith on him. 

If the Israelites had, in this case, used the common instrumen- 
talities to secure success — if they had destroyed the wall with in- 
struments of war, or scaled its height with ladders, and thus over- 
come by the strength of their own arm, or the aid of their own 
devices, instead of being led to humble reliance upon God, and 
to recognise his agency in their behalf, they would have seen in 
the means which they had used a cause adequate to produce the 
effect, and they would have forgotten the First Cause, upon whose 
power they were dependent. Second causes were avoided in or- 
der that they might see the connection between the First Cause, 
and the effect produced — human instrumentality stood in abey- 
ance, in order that the Divine agency might be recognised. Thus 
they were taught to have faith in God, and to rely upon tne 
presence and the power of the Invisible Jehovah. 

10 * 


114 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


CHAPTER iX. 

CONJERNING THE TRANSITION FROM THE MA- 
TERIAL SYSTEM, BY WHICH RELIGIOUS IDEAS 
WERE CONVEYED THROUGH THE SENSES, TO 
THE SPIRITUAL SYSTEM, IN WHICH ABSTRACT 
IDEAS WERE CONVEYED BY WORDS AND PAR- 
ABLES. 

Human language has always advanced from its 
first stage, in which ideas are acquired directly 
through the medium of the senses, to the higher 
state, in which abstract ideas are conveyed by ap- 
propriate words and signs. When an idea is once 
formed by outward objects, and a word formed re- 
presenting that idea, it is then no longer necessary, 
or desirable, that the object which first originated 
the idea should longer be associated in the mind 
with the idea itself. It is even true that the import 
of abstract ideas suffers from a co-existence in the 
mind of the abstract thought with the idea of the 
object which originated it. Thus the word spirit 
now conveys a distinct idea to the mind of pure 
spiritual existence ; but the distinctness and power 
of the idea is impaired, by remembering that the 
word from which it was derived, originally signifi- 


PLAN OF SALVATION, 


115 


ed wind, and that the word itself was originated in 
the first place by the wind. So in other cases ; al- 
though the ideas of abstract and spiritual things can 
be originated, primarily, only from outward objects, 
yet when they have been originated, and the spirit- 
ual idea connected with the sign or word conveying 
its proper sense, it is desirable, in order to their great- 
est force and perspicuity, that their connection with 
materiality should be broken off in the mind. 

In all written languages this advancement from 
one stage of perfection to another, by the addition of 
abstract ideas, can be traced ; and experience teach- 
es, incontrovertibly, that the advancement of human 
language, as above described, and the advancement 
of human society, are dependent upon each other. 

The preceding principles being applied to the 
subject under consideration, it would follow that 
the Mosaic machinery, which formed the abstract 
ideas, conveying the knowledge of God’s true char- 
acter, would no longer be useful after those ideas 
were originated, defined, and connected with the 
words which expressed their abstract or spiritual 
import. It would follow, therefore, that the ma- 
chinery would be entirely dispensed with when- 
ever it had answered the entire design for which it 
was put into operation. Whenever the Jews were 
cured of idolatry, and had obtained true ideas of the 
attributes of the true God, then the dispensation of 
shadows and ceremonies, which “ could not make 
the comers thereunto perfect,” would, according to 


116 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


the reason of things, pass away, and give place to a 
more perfect and more spiritual dispensation. 

We find, aceordingly, that the machinery of the 
tabernacle was gradually removed ; it never having 
existed in perfection after the location of the tribes 
in Palestine. They sojourned in the wilderness 
until those who had come out of Egypt died. The 
generation who succeeded them had the advantage 
of having received their entire education through 
the medium of the Mosaic institution, and thus of 
being freed from vicious habits and remembrances 
contracted in idolatrous society. 

Afterwards the prophets held an intermediate 
place between the material dispensation of Moses 
and the pure spirituality of that of Christ. In the 
prophetic books, especially the later ones, there is an 
evident departure from a reliance upon the external 
forms, and an application of the ideas connected 
with those forms to internal states of mind. Their 
views of the old dispensation were more spiritual 
than the views of those who lived near the origin of 
the institution. And in the dispensation of the 
Messiah, the prophets evidently expected clearer 
light and purer spirituality. 

The state of the case, then, is this : The old dis- 
pensation was necessary and indispensable, in itself, 
and in its place ; but it was neither designed, nor 
adapted to continue — The knowledge of Divine 
things which it generated was necessary for all men, 
but, as yet, i* was circumscribed to a small portion of 


$ 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


117 


the human family : the point of inquiry now pre- 
sents itself, How could this essential knowledge 
concerning the Divine Nature and attributes^ he 
extended throughout the world 7 

There would be but two methods possible — either 
the same processes, and the same cumbrous ma- 
chinery, (which were a ‘ burden’ that an apostle af- 
firmed neither he nor his fathers were able to bear) 
must be established in every nation and kindred and 
tribe of the human family, and thus each nation be 
disciplined and educated by itself : or, one nation 
must be prepared and disciplined, — their propensity 
to idolatry destroyed — the ideas coined in the die 
prepared by Jehovah, thrown into their minds, and 
then, being thus prepared, they might be made the 
instruments of transferring those ideas into the Ian 
guages of other nations.* If the Almighty were to 
adopt the first method, it would exclude men from 
benevolent labor for the spiritual good of each other ; 
and besides, the history of the process with the Jews, 
as well as the reason of the thing, would indicate 
that the latter method would be the one which the 
Maker would adopt. 

* There is a common, and, to some minds, a weighty objection 
against the truth of Revealed Religion, stated as follows If God 
ever gave a religion to the world, why did he not reveal it to all 
men, and reveal it at once and perfectly, so that no one could 
(louV. ? If this had been possible, it might not have been expe- 
dient ; but the nature of things, as we have seen, rendered it im- 
possible to give man a revelation in such a manner. 


IIS PHILOSOPHY OP THE 

But, in order to the diffusion of the knowledge of 
God by the latter method, some things would be 
necessary as pre-requisites, among which are the 
following — 

1. That the Jews, who possessed these ideas, 
should be scattered throughout the world, and that 
they should be thus scattered long enough before 
the time of the general diffusion of Divine know- 
ledge to have become familiar with the languages of 
the different nations where they sojourned. This 
would be necessary, in order that by speaking in 
other tongues they might transfer into them their 
own ideas of Divine things, by attaching those ideas 
to words in the respective languages which they 
spoke, or by introducing into those languages words 
and phrases of Hebrew origin, conveying the re- 
vealed ideas. Whether the different languages were 
acquired by miraculous or by human instrumental- 
ity, there would be no other way possible of trans- 
ferring ideas from one language to another, hut by 
the methods above mentioned. ' 

2. It would be necessary, before the Jews were 
thus scattered, that their propensity to idolatry 
should be entirely subdued, otherwise they would, 
as they had frequently done before, fall into the 
adominable habits of the nations among whom they 
were dispersed.* 

* Idolatry is one of the most unconquerable of all the cor- 
rupt propensities of the human soul. Miracles under the new 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 119 

3. The new and spiritual system should be first 
propagated among those who understood both the 
spiritual import of the Hebrew language, and like- 
wise the language cf the other nations to whom the 
gospel was to be preached. It was necessary that 
the n%w dispensation should be committed, first to 
the Jews, who were scattered in the surrounding 
nations, because, as we have seen, they were the 
on_y individuals immediately prepared to communi- 
cate it to others. 

Now the following facts are matters of authentic 
history. 

1. By instruction and discipline the Jews were 
entirely cured of the propensity to idolatry — so 
much so that their souls abhorred idols. 

2. They were, and had been for many genera- 
tions, dispersed among all nations of the Roman 
world ; but still, in their dispersion they retained 
their peculiar ideas, and multitudes of this peculiar 
people assembled out of all countries, at least once a 
year, at the city of Jerusalem, to worship Jehovah ; 
and it was while the multitudes were thus assembled, 
that the gospel was first preached to them; and 
preached, as was proper it should be, by power and 
miracle, in order that those present might know as- 
suredly that the dispensation wr^ from Heaven. 

dispensation had scarcely ceased — ^the apostolic fathers were 
scarcely cold in their graves, before idoiatrous forms were again 
superinduced upon the pure spirituality of the holy gospel, and in 
the Papal church the curse continues till this ho’ir. 


120 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

3. The new dispensation was likewise introduced 
in the first place among the Jews who continued to 
reside in Palestine, and when a sufiicient number 
of them were fully initiated, persecutions were 
caused to arise which scattered them abroad among 
the nations ; and the Gentile languages not being 
known to them, they were miraculously endowed 
with the gift of tongues, that they might communi- 
cate to others the treasures of Divine knowledge 
committed to them. 

Thus, when the old dispensation had fulfilled its 
design in disciplining the Jews, in imparting first 
ideas, and thus, as a ‘ schoolmaster,’ preparing the 
people for the higher instruction of Christ; and 
when the fulness of the times had come, that the 
means and the material were prepared to propagate 
the spiritual truth of the new dispensation, then the 
Mosaic cycle would appropriately close — it would 
not be consistent that it should remain longer, for 
the plain reason given by Jesus himself, that new 
wine should not be put into old bottles, nor the old 
and imperfect forms be incorporated with the new 
and spiritual system. 

Therefore it was, that so soon as the new dis- 
pensation had been introduced, and its foundations 
firmly laid, Jerusalem, the centre of the old econo- 
my, with the temple and all things pertaining to 
the ritual service, was at once and completely de- 
stroyed, and the old system vanished away forever, 
ft would not have been expedient for God to de- 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


121 


stroy the old system sooner, because it was neces- 
sary to engraft the new system upon the old ; and 
it ought not to have remained longer, for the rea- 
sons above stated.* 

* It was necessary that the old system should be destroyed at 
this time, in order to throw the Jews upon Christ, as the sacrifice 
for their sins. Under the old dispensation, the sacrifices for sin 
were allowed to continue to the end. From this sacrifice they 
were taught to hope for pardon. An idea had been, by the pro- 
cess which God himself instituted, originated in their mind, that 
death must ensue for sin ; but by transferring their sins to the 
head of the sacrifice, it died as a vicarious expiation, and they 
lived. It had become a part, almost, of the Jewish mind, that 
they could not hope for pardon, unless the sacrifice was offered. 
They felt that their life was forfeited by sin, and they v/ere un- 
pardoned until the sacrifice was made, and it could be made no 
where' else but at Jerusalem. Now God destroyed Jerusalem, 
and caused the offering for sin to cease, and entirely annihilated 
the possibility of their ever again expiating their sins by the bloody 
sacrifices ; they were, therefore, shut up to the doctrine of Christ’s 
sacrifice for sin. By the destruction of Jerusalem, the alternative 
was presented to the Jews — Accept of Christ’s sacrifice, or you 
have no propb.iation for your sins. 

11 


122 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


CHAPTER X. 

CONCERNING THE MEDIUM OP CONVEYING TO 
MEN, PERFECT INSTRUCTION IN DOCTRINE AND 
DUTY. 

The knowledge which the old dispensation was 
designed to generate, had been transmitted into the 
minds of the Jews ; and the Jews had been prepa- 
red to transmit the abstract import of those spiritual 
ideas into other languages. The Mosaic institution, 
having accomplished its design, was about to ‘ van 
ish away,’ and give place to the new dispensation^ 
which would end the series of God’s revealed in- 
structions, by giving men a perfect system of reli- 
gion, accompanied by those aids and influences, 
which would be adapted to develope and perfect 
man’s moral powers, and render him, in his present 
condition, as perfect as his nature and his circum- 
stances would allow. 

At this point of our progress the inquiry presents 
itself — What can we learn^ from the present con- 
stitntion of things^ concerning the medium or in- 
strumcntality that God would adopt in giving 
mankind a perfect system of religion 7 
• When the ideas that conveyed the knowledge 
of God were understood by the people, human Ian- 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 123 

guage would then become the proper medium of 
communication. The very fact that the ideas were 
generated and thrown into language, evinces that 
language was designed, eventually, to be the me- 
dium through which they should be transmitted 
to the world. When the ideas were prepared, as 
has been stated, then all that would be necessary, 
in order to the further and more perfect communi 
cation of knowledge, would be, that men should 
have a teacher to use this language— to expand, 
illustrate and apply these ideas ; and by these, give 
definitions, and illustrate and spiritualize other ideas 
when necessary. 

Further; man’s senses are constituted with an 
adaptation to the external world ; and his intellec- 
tual constitution is adapted to intercourse with his 
fellow man. The delicate bony structure of the 
ear, which conveys sounds from the tympanum to 
the sensorium, is nicely adjusted by the Maker to 
appreciate and convey the tones and modulations 
of the human voice. Human gesture, likewise, and 
the expression of the countenance and the eye, are 
auxiliary to human language in conveying instruc- 
tion. The nature of man, therefore, is adapted, 
both physically and intellectually, to receive knowl- 
edge by communications from one of his own spe- 
cies. If God designed that an angel should instruct 
the human family, one of two things would have 
to be done— either the human constitution would 
have to be elevated and adapted to intercourse with 


124 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


a being of a higher order in the scale of creatioi, or 
that being would have to let down hia nature to 
human capacity, and thus adapt himself to inter- 
course with human natures. And, it would even 
be requisite that the teacher should not assume the 
highest condition of humanity in order that his in- 
structions should accomplish the greatest general 
good ; nor should his communications be made in 
the most cultivated and elevated style of language. 
If he would instruct the common mind in the best 
manner, he must use common language and com- 
mon illustrations — and if God (blessed be his name) 
were himself to instruct human nature, as it iSj the 
same means would be necessary. 

Another step — Man is so constituted that he 
learns by example better than precept. Theory 
without practice, or precept without example does 
not constitute a perfect system of instruction. The 
theory of surveying, however perfect it may be 
taught in college, never makes a practical surveyor. 
An artist may give a most perfect theory of his art, 
to his apprentices, or those whom he wishes to in- 
struct in a knowledge of his business, but if he 
would have them become practical artists them- 
selves, he must, with tools in hand, practise his own 
instructions before the eyes of the learner. In the 
language of the trades, he must “ show how it’s 
done.” Such, then, is the nature of man, that in 
order to a perfect system of instniction, there must 
be both precept and practice. 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 125 

Now, there can be but one perfect model of human 
nature. And man could not be removed to some 
other planet, nor out of his present circumstances, to 
be instructed. If the Almighty, therefore, designed 
ever to give a perfect and final system of instruction 
to mankind, it could be done only by placing in this 
world a perfect human nature — a being who would 
not only give perfect precepts, but who would prac- 
tise those precepts before the eyes of men. If such 
a being were placed among men, who, amid all the 
perplexities, difiiculties, and trials which affect men 
in their present condition, would exhibit perfect ac- 
tion of body, heart, and mind, in all his relations of 
life, and in all his duties to God and man — that 
would be a model character, practising the precepts 
of the Divine law in man’s present circumstances. 
The example of an angel, or of any being of a dif- 
ferent order from man, would be of no benefit to the 
human family. Man must see his duties, as man, 
exemplified in his own nature. Human nature 
could he perfected only hy following a perfect mo- 
del of human nature. But, with the rule of duty 
in his hand, and a model character before him, man 
would have a system of instruction perfectly adapted 
to his nature : and adapted to perfect his nature. 
If God, therefore, designed to give man a final and 
perfect system of instruction, he would adopt the 
method thus adapted to the constitution which he 
has given his creatures. — Now, Jesus Christ is 
THAT MODEL CHARACTER. He assumed human 
11 # 


126 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


nature— came to the earth, man’s residence — ex- 
pounded and illustrated the Law in human lan- 
guage ; gave it its spiritual import, and applied it to 
the different circumstances and conditions of human 
life. He removed the false glosses which the igno- 
rance and the prejudices of men had attached to it — 
He modified or rescinded those permissions or 
clauses which were accommodated to the darkness 
of former times, and the imperfections of the Jewish 
system, and then, by applications the most striking 
and definite, he shewed the bearing of the rule of 
duty upon all varieties of human action. 

And further; the law being thus defined and ap- 
plied, in order that the world might have a model 
character, he conformed himself to all its require- 
ments. And in order that that model might be a 
guide in all the varied circumstances in which some 
of the family of man might be placed, Jesus placed 
himself in all those circumstances, and acted in them. 
Is man surrounded by a sinful and suffering world ? 
So was Jesus. Does he desire to know how to act 
in such circumstances ? Jesus ministered occasion- 
ally to the temporal wants of men, and labored con- 
tinually to promote their spiritual good. Is man 
popular ? So was Jesus ; and he used his influence 
to purify his Father’s house. Is man forsaken by 
his last friend ? So was Jesus ; and he upbraided 
and murmured not, but sought consolation in com- 
munion with the Father. Does man visit and dine 
w Ih the learned, and the religious formalists of the 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


127 


age? So did Jesus; and in his conversation he 
maintained the claims of spiritual religion, and re- 
proved man’s hypocrisy and formality. Does man 
sit down in the cottage of the poor ? So did Jesus : 
and he encouraged and comforted the inmates with 
spiritual instruction. Is man present when a group 
of friends are assembled on an occasion which war- 
rants innocent enjoyment ? So was Jesus ; and he 
approved their social pleasures. Is man called to 
sympathize with those in affliction ? So was Jesus ; 
and Jesus wept! Thus by land and by sea, in all 
places and under all circumstances, wherever any 
of earth’s children are called to act, Jesus — the mo- 
del man — is seen living and moving before them ; 
and his voice falls upon their ear with the mingled 
cadence of authority and encouragement — “FOL- 
LOW ME !” 

The demonstration then is manifest, that through 
the medium of Jesus Christ, man has received a per- 
fect system of instruction ; and a final and perfect 
revelation of duty to God and man could be given 
in no other way. 


128 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


CHAPTER XI. 

CONCERNING SOME OP THE PECULIAR PROOFS OF 
THE MESSIAHSHIP OF CHRIST. 

We have now arrived at a point in our subject 
wliere the light of history will aid in our investiga- 
tions. Tie facts which history furnishes, and 
which wifi elucidate the present point of inquiry, 
are the following : First, the Jewish prophets lived 
and wrote centuries before the period in which Jesus 
appeared in Judea. This faot is as certain as any 
other item of human knowledge. 

A second fact is — The Jews, about the time of 
Christ’s appearance, expected with more earnest- 
ness and desire than usual, the appearance of theii 
Messiah, who, they supposed, would deliver them 
from subjection to Gentile nations, and place the 
Jewish power in the ascendant among the nations 
of the earth. They generally supposed that as a 
king he would reign with great dignity and power ; 
and as a priest, preside over, not abrogate, the cere- 
monial law. Although some of the common peo- 
ple may have had some understanding of the true 
nature of the Messiah’s kingdom, yet the prom 
inent men of the nation, and the great body of th* 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


129 


people of all classes, were not expecting that the 
kingdom of Christ would be purely spiritual, but 
that it would be mainly temporal. And, indeed, it 
was necessary that they should not have a clear 
conception of the worth and spirituality of the Mes- 
siah’s dispensation, previously to his coming; be- 
cause if they had had such a conception, the imper- 
fections and darkness of their own dispensation 
would not have been borne. It is contrary to the 
nature of mind when it is enlightened, to delight in, 
and employ itself longer about, the preparatory steps 
that led it to the light. 

The facts in the case, then, were, first. The pro- 
phets lived and wrote centuries before the era of 
Christ ; and, second. On account of intimations, or 
supposed intimations in their prophecies, the Jews 
were expecting the Messiah about the time that 
Jesus appeared in Judea. With the question con- 
cerning the inspiration of the prophets we have 
nothing to do. Whether they were inspired or not, 
their books contained the matter upon which the 
Jews founded their expectation of the appearance of 
the Messiah. With the question how the Jews 
could mistake the character of the Messiah, we have 
nothing to do ; although the solution of the ques- 
tion would not be difficult. The simple facts which 
require attention are — The prophecies existed ; and 
in those prophecies a Ruler was spoken of, of most 
exalted character, whose dominion would be trh 
iimphant, universal, and endless — whose doctrines 


130 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

would be pure and spiritual ; and whose adminis- 
tration would be a blessing, not only to the Jews, 
but also to the Gentiles— and yet, his life would be 
humble, and not suited to the feeling of the Jews — 
his sufferings extreme ; and that he would termi- 
nate the old dispensation, and die for the sins of the 
people.* 

Now, in view of these facts. In lohat character 
would the true Messiah appear, when he assumea 
his duties as the Instructor of mankind ?■ 

If he had appeared and conformed to the views 
which the Jews entertained of a temporal Messiah, 
it would have been direct evidence that he was an 
impostor ; because the Jewish views of his charac- 
ter and reign, as all can now see, were selfish, am- 
bitious, imperfect and partial. Now, a teacher sent 
from God to give the world a perfect religion, coula 
not conform to such views ; but an impostor, from 
the nature of the case, could have conformed to no 
other standard than the views of the people. If an 
impostor wished to pass himself upon the Jews as 
their Messiah, he must assume that character and 
conform to that conduct, which he knew they ex- 
pected in their Messiah. For an impostor to assume 
a different character from that which he knew the 
nation expected their Messiah would bear, would 
have been to use means to frustrate his own plans, 
which would be impossible ; because man cannot 

* Is. ch, 53. Dan. 9; 24 — 27. Micah 5; 1, 2. Mai. 3: 1 — 3. 
Zech. 9: 9, 10. Is. 9: l._7. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


131 


have a governing desire for the attainment of an 
end, and at the same time use means which he 
knows will frustrate the accomplishment of his own 
object. An impostor, therefore, in the state of ex- 
pectancy which existed at that time in Judea, could 
not do otherwise than conform himself to the char- 
acter which the nation were expecting their Messiah 
would possess. 

Mark the two points. The Prophets gave a de- 
lineation of the ^character, life, and death of the 
Messiah. This delineation the Jews misinterpret- 
ed, or applied to several individuals ; so that they 
were expecting in their Messiah a character entirely 
different from that described by the prophets. 

Now, mark the application of these points. If 
Christ had conformed to the views of the Jews, 
there would have been three direct testimonies that 
he was not from God. (1.) Because their views 
were partial, prejudiced, wicked. (2.) He could not 
have conformed to their views, and sustain at the 
same time the character of a perfect instructor.* (3.) 
He would ‘not have fulfilled the predictions of the 
prophets concerning him. But, on the other hand, 
if he conforrned to the prophets, and assumed the 
character of a perfect teacher, his rejection by the 
Jews was absoluteh’ certain.! It follows, therefore, 

• See chap. x. 

t The fact that Jesus conformed to the prophets, established 
the truth of the prop! ecies ; because, by conforming to them, he 
suffered death ; while by his death, in accordance with the proph- 


132 


PHILOSOPHY OF IHE 


legitimately and conclusively, that Jesus Christ was 
the Messiah of God, because he pursued that course 
which would, from the nature of the case, result in 
his rejection by the na^on ; which conduct, in an 
impostor, would be impossible — but in the true 
Messiah it was the necessary course. 

But further : It was necessary that Jesus should 
establish his claim as the Messiah, by miraculous 
agency.* But owing to the peculiar state of the 
Jewish nation at that time, there would be great 
difficulty in doing this, for the following reasons — 
If he, as Moses did, had come publicly before the 
nation at Jerusalem, and by miracles of great pow- 
er, frequently repeated, and extending their influ- 
ence throughout all the land, had forced conviction 
upon the minds of all the Jews that he was the true 
Messiah, the immediate and inevitable result would 
have been, that they would have raised one univer- 
sal revolt against the Roman power, and would 
have hurried the Savior of sinners into the office of 
King of the Jews ; and then bowed down to him 
as the temporal sovereign of the Jewish nation. 
But, notwithstanding this error of the Jews, and the 
results to which it would directly tend,^till it would 
be necessary in order to meet the constitution of 
things, that Christ should manifest, by exhibitions 

ets, the world gained the evidence that he was the true Messiah. 
To give life, as a testimony to falsehood, is impossible, either in 
a good or in an evil being. 

* See chap. iii. On Miracles. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


133 


of miraculous power, the credentials attesting the 
divinity of his mission. The inquiry, then, arises, 
How could Jesus perform miracles^ and at the same 
time prevent revolt in the nation 7 

The circumstances of the case would render it 
necessary that his miracles should not he attended 
by that publicity and power which would lead 
those who had the influence of the nation in their 
hands, and who were blind to the true design of 
his mission, into revolt and destruction. It was 
likewise necessary, on the other hand, that they 
should be sufficiently frequent, and of sufficient 
power, to convince the candid who witnessed them, 
that they were the seal of heaven to the mission of 
Jesus. When Christ wrought miracles, therefore, 
he would have to aim at one end, and endeavor to 
prevent another — the end aimed at, that the im- 
pression might be made on honest minds, that he 
was the true Messiah ; the end avoided, that the 
rulers of the nation might not, on account of his 
mighty miracles, rally round him as their temporal 
king, and thus hurry themselves and their nation to 
premature destruction. 

Now, the character and conduct of Jesus accords 
entirely with the foregoing deductions, made out 
from undoubted historical facts, that he performed 
many miracles and yet suppressed their extensive 
publicity, is frequently noticed in the New Testa- 
ment : Jesus, therefore, had the peculiar marks of 
the true Messiah ; and, in view of the peculiar con* 
12 


134 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


dition of the Jewish nation at that time, the Hue 
Messiah could have assumed no other character, 
and pursued no other course of conduct than that 
exhibited in the life of Christ.* 

* Another item might be added to this demonstration, showing 
that in order to the ultimation of the Plan of Salvation, it was 
necessary that Jesus should so manifest himself and manage his 
ministry, that a part of the Jews should receive him as the Mes- 
siah, and a part reject him. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


i35 


CHAPTER XII. 

CONCERNIN3 THE CONDITION IN LIFE -W niCII IT 
WAS NECESSARY THE MESSIAH SHOULD AS- 
SUME, IN ORDER TO BENEFIT THE HUMAN FAM- 
ILY IN THE GREATEST DEGREE, BY HIS EX- 
AMPLE AND INSTRUCTIONS. 

Selfishness is a fundamental evil of human na- 
ture, the existence of which is acknowledged by all 
men. It is not an evil which belongs to any one 
class of human society. It is generic ; and moves 
all ranks; only each individual looks upon those 
who stand next or near him in society, and desires 
equality with, or superiority over them in wealth, 
or popularity, or power. The law of reason and of 
God requires that men should endeavor to elevate 
those below them up to their own condition — self- 
ishness is the opposite principle, which urges men 
to elevate themselves over others. If the militia 
captain could follow the desires of his nature, and 
ascend from one condition to another until he stood 
upon the floor of the senate chamber, he would find 
that the desire which led him to take the first step, 
had only increased its power by gratification, and 


136 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

was still goading him on to rise higher: and he 
would stop nowhere, while life lasted, until he per- 
ceived further efforts useless or dangerous. This 
selfish pride, and desire for self-aggrandizement, is 

detrimental both to the individual and the social 

♦ 

interests of men. Wherever selfish ambition exists 
in any degree of strength, it generates misery to the 
individual and to others about him. There are not, 
perhaps, more miserable men in the world than are 
?ome of those who have gained to some extent the 
object of their ambition, and are seated in the halls 
of legislation. Their minds are constantly anxious 
in making some effort, or devising some plan, by 
which they rfiay promote the schemes in which 
they are engaged. And every time the hopes of 
one is realized, the stings of envy, and jealousy, 
and concealed hate, rankle in the bosoms of some 
others. In the humbler walks of life the evil ex- 
ists, perhaps in a less degree, but still it exists ; and 
its existence is the bane of human happiness, and 
the cause of human guilt. 

Now, this wicked desire of human nature to as- 
pire after elevated worldly condition, rather than 
after usefulness of life and goodness of heart, would 
be either fostered or checked by the condition in 
life which the Messiah assumed among men. In 
proportion as his condition was elevated, pride and 
the desire of elevation would be fostered in the 
hearts of his followers. In proportion as his condi- 
tion was humble and depressed, pride of heart 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


137 


would le checked in all those who received and 
honored him as their master and teacher.* 

. Suppose that the Messiah had presented himself 
in the condition anticipated by the Jews : surround- 
ed by the pomp and parade of a powerful temporal 
prince ; sustaining the earthly dignity and splendor 
of the ancient monarchs of the dynasty of David. 
Now, had such a Messiah appeared in Judea, it is 
perfectly certain from the character of human na- 
ture, that his earthly circumstances would have a 
tendency to cherish in the people, as a nation, and 
as individuals, the bad principles of pride and am- 
bition. Worldly pomp and circumstance would 
have had the sanction of the highest authority in 
the person of their Messiah ; and it would have in- 
duced the desire in all hearts to elevate themselves 
as nearly as possible to his temporal condition. The 
pride of the human heart would have been fostered 
and not humbled. Instead of causing the middle 
walks of life to be grateful and contented in their 
condition, it would have produced in them an anxi- 
ety to stretch themselves upwards. And instead of 
causing those already elevated to fellowship and 
benefit the worthy poor, it would have caused them 
to have no sympathy for any of the human family 
in low estate ; because theirs was a condition the 
opposite of that assumed by the great model which 
they loved and admired. And instead of causing 
the poor to feel a greater degree of contentment, 

* See chap. v. p. 57, par. 5. 

12 * 


138 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

and to avoid repining at their lot, the circumstances 
of the Messiah would have deepened their dejection, 
and rendered them less happy in their depressed 
condition ; because their condition would hinder 
them from approach to, or fellowship with, the Heav- 
en-sent Instructor. A teacher, therefore, believed to 
be from heaven, who should assume an elevated 
condition in the world, instead of being a spiritual 
blessing to the whole family of man, by promoting 
in their bosoms humility and sympathy for each 
other, would have been a spiritual curse, by produc- 
ing haughtiness and hardness of heart in the rich ; 
ambition in the middle classes, and hopeless dejec- 
tion in the poor. 

Suppose the Messiah had come in the character 
which the Greeks admired — that, assuming the seat 
of the philosophers, he had startled the learned 
world by disclosing to them new and sublime truths. 
Suppose he had, by the power of far-reaching intel- 
lect, answered all the questions and solved all the 
difficulties which perplexed the minds of the disci- 
ples of the Porch and the Academy. In such a 
case his instructions would have been adapted to 
satisfy the minds of a few gifted individuals, but 
they would not have been adapted to benefit the 
minds of many, nor the heart of any of the great 
mass of mankind. Vain of their wisdom already, 
the character of the Messiah would have been 
adapted to make the philosophers more so ; and in- 
stead of blessing them, by humbling their pride, 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


139 


and giving them a sympathy with their fellow men 
it would have led them and their admirers to look 
upon those who were not endowed with superior 
mental qualities, as an inferior class of men. 

But, if the Messiah could not have appeared in 
the condition desired by the Jews, nor in that ad- 
mired by the Gentiles, the inquiry arises — What 
condition in life would it be necessary that the Mes- 
siah should assume, in order to benefit the human 
family in the highest degree by the influence of that 
condition ? In view of the foregoing deductions, 
the solution is obvious : — In that condition which 
would have the most direct influence to destroy sel- 
flshness and 'pride in the human hearty and to fos- 
ter^ in their steady humility^ contentment^ and be- 
nevolence. 

Now, in view of this result, deduced directly from 
the acknowledged character of human nature, turn 
your attention to the earthly circumstances of Jesus, 
and see how directly he brought the whole weight 
of his condition in life to bear against selfishness 
and pride of heart. — He was born in the lowest pos- 
sible circumstances. His life was a constant rebuke 
to every ambitious and proud feeling of the human 
heart ; and his death was one esteemed by men the 
most ignominious. No one who openly acknowl- 
• edged and had fellowship with Jesus of Nazareth, 
as his Teacher and Master, could do so until the 
natural pride of his nature was subdued. It was 
impossible for a man to find fellowship with Jesus 
unless he humbled himself, because in no other 


140 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


state could his feelings meet those of Christ. “ Take 
my yoke upon you,” said Jesus, “ and learn of me, 
for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall hnd 
rest for your souls.” 

Thus did Jesus place himself in a condition 
which rendered humility absolutely necessary in 
order to sympathy with him — in the condition di 
rectly opposed to pride of heart, one of the most in- 
sidious enemies of man’s happiness and usefulness. 
And as it is an acknowledged and experimental fact, 
that the soul finds rest only in meekness, and never 
in selfishness and pride of mind, therefore, the de- 
monstration is perfect, that Christ assumed the only 
condition which it was possible for him to assume, 
and thereby destroy pride and misery, and produce 
humility and peace, in human bosoms. 

Profane history and the New Testament scrip- 
tures confirm the foregoing views. Tacitus, speak- 
ing of the primitive Christians, alludes to them 
with marked contempt, as the followers of one who 
had been crucified. His manner evinces clearly 
not only his own feelings, but it is a good index to 
the feelings of a majority of the p'bople of that proud 
and idolatrous age; and it establishes beyond all 
controversy the fact, that no one could declare him- 
self a follower of Christ, until, for truth and for 
Christ’s sake, he was willing to be considered base 
in the estimation of the world. The elegant Pliny 
likewise bears direct testimony to the humility and 
integrity of life which characterized the early dis- 
ciples of Christ. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 141 

A great number of passages in the New Testa- 
ment confirm the preceding views. It is only ne- 
cessary to say, that the Apostles understood not 
only the effect of their Lord’s circumstances, in life 
and death, upon the minds of men, but they under- 
stood likewise the philosophy, and the necessity ot 
the case. Says Paul — “It became (or was expe- 
dient for) Him, for whom are all things, and by 
whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto 
glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect 
through suffering ; for both he that sanctifieth and 
they who are sanctified are all of one, for which 
cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.” — 
That is, the humble and self-denying life and death 
of Jesus was necessary, because it would have a 
sanctifying effect in counteracting the evils in the 
hearts of men. It was necessary for him to become 
their brother man, and assume a certain character 
and condition, in order that by their becoming one 
with him, they might be sanctified and made hap- 
py and useful. 

Thus, while the Jews required a sign, and the 
Greeks sought after wisdom, the Apostles preached 
Christ crucified ; understanding the philosophy, the 
efficiency, and the necessity of their doctrine. And 
so long as the world lasts, every man who reads 
the New Testament, whether saint or sinner, will 
be penetrated with the conviction that a vain, aspi- 
ring, selfish spirit, is incompatible with the religion 
of Jesus. 


142 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


CHAPTER XIII. 

CONCERNIHG THE ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES WHICH 
MUST, ACCORDING TO THE NATURE OF THINGS, 
LIE AT THE FOUNDATION OF THE INSTRUC- 
TION OF CHRIST. 

The Messiah having come in the proper char- 
acter ; displayed the proper credentials, and assum- 
ed the necessary condition, the question arises. 
What may we learn from the character of God and 
the nature of man concerning the fundamental prin- 
ciples which would govern the teaching of Jesus ? 

God is righteous and benevolent ; it therefore fol- 
lows, that he would connect happiness with right 
eousness and goodness in his creatures. Were he 
to do otherwise, it would be causing the happiness 
of men to arise from a character different from his 
own, which, as God is good, would be impossible, 
because it would be wicked. 

Further, man is so constituted, that, as a matter 
of fact, his true happiness depends upon righteous- 
ness of life and benevolence of heart. When his 
will accords with his knowledge of duty ; or, when 
he acts as he knows is right, towards God and his 
fellow men, there is peace and even complacency 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


143 


of conscience. Peace and complacency of conscience 
is the happiness which, according to man’s moral 
constitution, arises from righteousness, or right act- 
ing, in life. And when man exercises benevolent 
feeling — has love in his heart to God and men, this 
exercise of benevolent affection produces happiness. 
Now, there can be no such thing as happiness of 
spirit, except it arises from these sources. And 
when these sources are full and flowing, and thus 
unite together — when there is perfect love and a 
perfect life, the soul is rendered happy. A single 
unrighteous act of will or malevolent feeling of 
heart will destroy this happiness — a single emotion 
of hatred or ill will, or a single evil act, known to 
be such, toward’s any of God’s creatures, will de- 
stroy the peace of the soul. Even hatred to an 
enemy, or the desire of revenge, or any emotion but 
good will, injures the soul’s happiness. 

Thus, in constituting the human soul, God, in ac- 
cordance with his own character, has caused its hap- 
piness 10 depend upon righteousness and goodness. 

Now, then, a teacher sent from God must recog- 
nise these fundamental principles, and give his in- 
struction in view of them. The happiness of the 
human soul, which is its life — its first, and best, 
and only good, could be produced in no other way, 
The whole force, therefore, of Divine instruction, 
would be designed and adapted to accomplish this 
necessary end. The legitimate developement of 
God’s natrire, exercised towards man, would pro- 


144 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

duce such instructions and such an example ; and 
the best good of the human soul rendered it neces- 
sary that they should be given. 

It is not said, that, as in the schools of philoso- 
* phy, the constant inquiry and search should be for 
the ‘ greatest good.’ The very effort to obtain hap- 
piness in this way would destroy its existence.— 
Happiness is not objective but subjective; no di 
rect effort could gain it ; it is the result of the right 
action of the moral powers. It would not be neces- 
sary, therefore, that those instructed should even 
understand the principles which governed their in- 
structor. It would be sufficient if the instruction 
was designed and adapted to promote righteousness 
and goodness : then happiness of the soul would 
follow as a result, whether or not the recipient of 
the instruction understood the principles which 
governed his teacher. 

Now, the whole power of Christ’s instruction was 
directed to this point. It was distinguished in this 
respect from all other instruction ever given to man- 
kind. I say unto yon, love your enemies. Do good 
to them that despiteful ly use you. Be anxious about 
no worldly good. The weightier matters of the law 
are righteousness and the love of God. Love and 
obey God ; and love and do good to your neighbor, 
this is the Law and the Prophets. Seek first the 
kingdom of heaven and its righteousness ; and all 
other things will be added to you. That is, seek 
first righteousness and the love of God, and the ne- 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


145 


cessary result will grow out of these exercises — 
happiness, or life, will be added as a consequence. 

Thus was the whole force of the Savior’s teach- 
ing and example designed and adapted to produce 
righteousness and benevolence; and as these are 
the only exercises from which man’s true happiness 
can arise, it follows that the principles involved in 
the instruction of Christ, connecting happiness with 
holiness, are the only principles which can, in accor- 
dance with the character of God and the constitu- 
tion of man, produce the greatest good of the hu- 
man soul. Jesus, therefore, was the Christ of God; 
because the Christ of God could found his instruc- 
tions on no other principles : — the principles which 
are fundamental in his teaching being those which 
.alone can produce the happiness of the soul in ac- 
cordance' with its own moral nature, and in accord- 
ance with the moral character of God. ^ 

13 


146 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


CHAPTER XIV. 

CONCERNING FAITH, AS THE EXERCISE THROUGH 
WHICH TRUTH REACHES AND AFFECTS THE 
SOUL. 

When Christ, man’s perfect and spiritual instruc- 
tor, had come, and introduced the great doctrines 
of the spiritual dispensation, the next necessary step 
in the process was, that those truths should be 
brought to impress the soul, and influence the life, 
and so produce their proper effects upon human 
nature. The inquiry then presents itself. In what 
way could the truths of the gospel be brought into 
efficient contact with the soul of man 7 

There are but two ways in which truth can be 
brought into contact with the mind. The one is 
sometimes called knowledge, the other faith or be- 
lief of testimony. In the earlier and ruder ages, 
men. were necessarily moved more by knowledge, 
derived from their own observation and experience, 
through the medium of their senses ; but as man- 
kind increased in number, important truth was con- 
veyed by one man or one generation communica* 
ting their experience, and another man or another 
generation receiving it by belief in their testimony. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


147 


Perception and faith are the only modes by which 
truth can be brought into contact with the soul; and 
their effects are nearly the same upon man’s con- 
duct and feelings, with the following remarkable 
exception : — Facts which are the subjects of per- 
sonal observation, every time they are experienced, 
the effect upon the soul grows less ; while, on the 
contrary, those facts which are received by faith, 
produce, every time they are realized, a greater 
effect upon the soul. By constant sight, the effect 
of objects seen grows less; by constant faith, the 
effect of objects believed in grows greater. The 
probable reason of this is, that personal observation 
does not admit of the influence of the imagination 
in impressing the fact ; while unseen objects, reali- 
zes by faith, have the auxiliary aid of the imagina- 
tion, not to exaggerate them, but to clothe them 
with living colors, and impress them upon the heart. 
Whether this be the reason or not, the fact is true, 
that the more frequently we see the less we feel the 
power of an object ; while the more frequently we 
dwell upon an object by faith, the more we feel its 
power. This being true, it follows that faith would 
be the method best adapted to bring the sublime 
truths of the new dispensation to bear upon the souls 
of men. And further, as the dispensation is spirit- 
ual, and has relation to unseen and eternal things 
faith becomes the only medium through which they 
can be conveyed to the soul. 

Furthermore, man is so constituted that his faith 


148 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


or belief, has an influence not only over his conduct 
in life, but, likewise, over the character and action 
of the moral powers of the souL 

Faith governs the Conscience. 

We have said, in another place, that a true con- 
science depends upon a true faith. No proposition 
in morals is more plain. It is not our design to in- 
quire what leads, or has led, men to a wrong faith. 
Whatever may be the cau^ of any particular belief, 
it is incontrovertible that if a man believes a thing 
to be right, conscience cannot condemn an act per- 
formed in view of that belief. Conscience is so mod- 
ified and guided by a man’s faith, that it will sanc- 
tion and command an act in one-man which it will 
forbid, and condemn in another. A Catholic be- 
lieves that he ought to pray to the Virgin Mary to 
intercede for him with God ; and if a good Catho- 
lic were to neglect his dnlia to the saints his con- 
science would smite him, until, in some instances, 
he confesses his sin with tears. Now, if a good 
Protestant were to pray to saints, or to any other 
being but God, his conscience would smite him for 
doing that which the conscience of the Cathchc 
smote him for not doing. So the heathen mother 
will conscientiously throw her infant into the Gan- 
ges, or under the wheels of Juggernaut, while the 
conscience of a Christian mother would convict her 
of murder were she to do the same act. Conscience 
seldom convicts those that Christians call impeni- 
tent persons for neglecting to pray, while the mo 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


149 


merit a man becomes a true believer, he will be 
convicted of guilt if he neglects the duty. So cer- 
tainly and so clearly is it true, that a man’s con- 
science is governed by his faith. 

Faith governs the Affections. 

As man is constituted, no power in the universe 
can move his affections to an object, until he be- 
lieves that the object possesses some lovliness or 
excellency of character. The heart is affected just 
as much by the goodness of another if we believe 
that gooilness to exist, as it would be if we knew 
that it existed. No matter, in the case of the affec- 
tions, whether the object in reality possesses the 
good qualities or not, if they are fully believed to 
exist, the affections will act just as certainly as 
though they really did exist. The affections are 
constituted to be governed by faith. And they act 
most powerfully, as was demonstrated in a previous 
chapter, in view of good qualities existing in anoth- 
er, who under certain circumstances exercises those 
qualities towards us. Tho fact then is apparent, 
that the conduct of man’s life is influenced by what 
he believes ; and especially that the character and 
action of the moral powers of his nature are govern- 
ed by the principle of faith. 

Another most important fact in connection with 
this subject is, that a man’s interests, temporal and 
spiritual, depend upon what he believes. The nature 
of man and the nature of things are so constituted, 
that the belief of falsehood always destroys man’s 

• 13 * 


150 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


interests, temporal or spiritual, and the belief of 
truth invariably guides man right, and secures his 
best and highest good. 

Perhaps the most absurd and injurious adage that 
has ever gained currency among mankind, is, that 
“ it is no diiference what a man believes, if he only 
be sincere.” Now, the truth is, that the more sin- 
cerely a man believes falsehood, the more destruc- 
tive it is to all his interests, for time and eternity. 
This statement can be confirmed in 3very mind be- 
yond the reach of doubt. 

First, the influence of believing falsehood on 
temporal and social interests. 

We will state some cases of common and con- 
stant occurrence, in order that the principle may be 
made obvious : — 

A gentleman of property and the highest' respec- 
tability, in the course of his business transactions, 
became acquainted with an individual, who, as the 
event showed, was a man destitute in a great de- 
gree of a conscientious regard for truth. The per- 
suasions and false representations of this man led 
the gentleman referred to, to embark almost his en- 
tire fortune with him in speculations in which he 
was at that time engaged. While this matter was 
in progress, the friends of the gentleman called upon 
him, and stated their doubts of the individual’s in- 
tegrity who solicited his confidence, and likewise 
of the success of the enterprises in which he was 
solicited to engage. The advice of his friends was 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


151 


rejected — he placed confidence in the false state- 
ments of the individual referred to — he acted upon 
those statements, and was consequently involved in 
pecuniary distress. In this case the gentleman not 
only sincerely believed the falsehood to be the truth, 
but he had good motives in relation to the object 
which he desired to accomplish. He was a benev- 
olent man. He had expended considerable sums 
for charitable and religious uses, and his desire was 
by the increase of his property, to be enabled to ac- 
complish greater good. In this case he was injured 
likewise by believing what others did not believe. 
The individual who seduced him into the specula- 
tion, had endeavored to lead others to take the same 
views and to act in the same way ; they did not be- 
lieve the fiilsehood and were, consequently, saved ; 
he believed, and was, consequently, ruined. 

When the English army under Harold, and the 
Norman under William the Conqueror, were set in 
array for that fearful conflict which decided the fate 
of the two armies and the political destinies of Great 
Britain, William, perceiving that he could not, by a 
fair attack, move the solid columns of the English 
ranks, had recourse to a false movement, in order to 
gain the victory. . He gave orders that one flank 
of his army should fain to be flying from the field 
in disorder. The ofiicers of the English army be- 
lieved the falsehood, pursued them, and were cut 
off. A second time, a false movement was made 
in another part of the field. The Engl ish again be- 


152 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


lieved, pursued, and were cut oif. By these move- 
ments the fortunes . of the day were determined. 
Although the English had the evidence of their 
senses, yet they were led to believe a falsehood — 
they acted in view of it ; the consequence was, the 
destruction of a great part of their army, and the 
establishment of the Norman power in England. 

How often does it occur that the young female, 
possessing warm affections and being inexperien- 
ced in the wiles of villians, is led to believe false- 
hood which destroys her prospects and her hap- 
piness while life lasts. Under other, circumstances 
she might have been virtuous, useful, happy. By 
false indications of affection her heart is won — by 
false promises of faithfulness and future good, her 
assent to marry is gained — and then, when too late, 
she discovers that her husband is a villain, and she 
is forsaken, with a broken heart, to the cold sym- 
pathies of a selfish world. No matter how many 
hearts, besides her own, are broken by her error * 
No matter how sincere, or how guileless, or how 
young : she sincerely believed the falsehood and is 
thereby ruined. Nothing in heaven or on earth 
will avert the consequences. If she had doubted, 
she would have been saved. She believed, and is 
consigned to sorrow till she sinks into her grave. 

Second, the belief of falsehgod in relation to spir- 
itual things, destroys man^s spiritual interests. 

It is an incontrovertible fact that the whole hea- 
then world, ancient and modern, have believed in 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 13 

and worshipped unholy beings as gods. Now, from 
the necessities of the case, as demonstrated in the 
introd'’^;tory chapter, the worshipper becomes assim- 
ilated to the character of the object worshipped. In 
consequence of believing falsehood concerning the 
character of God, all heathendom, at the present 
hour, is filled with ignorance, impurity and crime. 
As a mass of corruption spreads contagion and death 
among all those who approach it, so certainly does 
the worship of unholy beings attaint the soul, and 
spread moral corruption through the world. “ Can 
a man take coals into his bosom and not be burn- 
ed — neither can the soul hold communion with 
beings believed to be unholy and not itself become 
corrupt. The fact is so plain that it is not necessa- 
ry to detail again the impurities, the viceSj the tor- 
tures, the self murders, and the unnatural affections 
of the heathen world, in order to show the deadly 
evils, both to the body and soul, which arise from 
the belief of falsehood in relation to spiritual things. 
It must be obvious to every one, that if the heathen 
believed in one holy and benevolent God, their abom- 
inable and cruel rites would cease. It follows, there- 
fore, that it is the.belief of falsehood that causes their 
ignorance and corruption. 

Thus it is invariably and eternally true, that thf 
belief of truth will lead a man right, and secure his 
temporal, spiritual, and eternal interests — and on the 
contrary, the belief of falsehood will lead a man 
wrong, and df stroy his intererts in relation to what- 


154 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

ever the falsehood pertains, whether it be temporal 
IT eternal. 

The preceding premises being established, the 
folloAving conclusions result : 

1. The entire man, in his body and soul, his ac- 
tions arid moral feelings, is governed by what he 
believes ; and that, in relation to things that should 
have a constantly increasing influence over the 
spirit, faith is a more powerful actuating cause than 
sight, because the one gains, while the other loses 
power over the soul by repetition. 

2. That the belief of falsehood, concerning any 
human interest, is fatally injurious ; while the be- 
lief of truth is eternally beneficial. And, that the 
more sincerely any one believes error, the more 
certainly he destroys his interests, whether tempo- 
••al or spiritual ; while, on the contrary, the more 
sincerely a man believes truth, the more certainly 
and powerfully are his interests advanced. The 
Living God has connected evil with the belief of 
falsehood, and good with the belief of truth ; it is a 
part of the constitutional law of the moral universe ; 
and there is no power in existence, that will stop the 
consequence from following the antecedent. 

3. Mark it — That doctrine whicli rectifies the 
conscience, purifies the heart, and produces love to 
God and men, is necessarily triie^ because, as it has 
been demonstrated that righteousness and benevo- 
ence is the greatest good of the soul ; and likewise 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 155 

that the greatest good must depend on the belief of 
truth ; therefore, the conclusion is inevitable, that 
that doctrine which, being believed, destroys sin in 
the heart and life of man, and produces righteous- 
ness and benevolence, is the truth of God. No 
matter whether men can comprehend all its depths 
and relations or not ; if it destroys sin wherever it 
takes effect by faith, and makes happiness grow out 
of right living and right loving^ from the consti- 
tution of things — from the character of God — from 
the nature of man — that doctrine is the truth op 
God. And that doctrine which hinders this result, 
or produces a contrary result, is the falsehood of the 
devil.* 

4. Therefore Christ laid, at the foundation of the 
Christian System, this vital and necessary principle, 
“ He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, 
and he that believeth not shall be damned”— saved 
in accordance with the moral constitution of the 
imiverse, and damned from the absolute necessities 
existing in the nature of things. 

♦Johns 44. 


156 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


CHAPTER XV. 

CONCERNING THE MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD WHICH 
WOULD BE NECESSARY, UNDER THE NEW AND 
SPIRITUAL DISPENSATION, TO PRODUCE IN THE 
SOUL OF MAN AFFECTIONATE OBEDIENCE. 

Man’s mental and moral constitution was the 
same under the New as under the Old Testament 
dispensation. The same methods, therefore, which 
were adapted to move man’s nature under the one, 
would be adapted to do so under the other. The 
difference between the two dispensations was, the 
first was a preparatory dispensation, its manifesta- 
tions, for the most part, being seen, and temporal : 
the second, a perfect system of truth, spiritual in its 
character, and in the method of its communication. 
But, whether the truths were temporal or spiritual,- 
and whether they were brought to view by faith or 
sight, in order to produce a given effect upon the 
soul, or any of its powers, the. same methods under 
all dispensations would be necessary, varied only to 
suit the advancement of the mind in knowleda^e, 
the differences existing in the habits and circum- 
stances of men, and the character of the dispensa- 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


157 


tion to be introduced. For instance: under one 
dispensation — it being in a great measure temporal, 
preparatory, and imperfect — love might be produced 
by making men feel temporal want, and by God 
granting temporal benefits : while under a spiritual 
and universal system, men must- likewise feel the 
want, and receive the benefit, in order to love ; but 
the want felt and the benefit conferred must be of 
a spiritual character. 

Under all dispensations, an essential requisite after 
the way for its introduction was prepared, would be 
such manifestations of God to men as would pro- 
duce love in the human heart for the object of wor- 
ship and obedience. “ Love the Lord thy God witli 
all thy heart” — ^is the first great law of the universe; 
and God cannot be honored, nor man made happy, 
unless his obedience be actuated by love to the ob- 
ject of obedience.* Now, the manifestations of 
mercy, under the old dispensation, were mainly 
temporal in their character, and limited in their 
application to the Jews. But God’s special good- 
ness to them, could not produce love in the hearts 
of the Gentiles. The manifestations in Egypt were, 
therefore, neither adapted in their character, nor in 
the extent of their design^ to the spiritual and uni- 
versal religion of Jesus Christ. But one part of the 
Mosaic economy was universal and immutable in 
its character. The moral law is the same forever 
in its application to all intelligent beings in the uni- 
* See chap. iv. on Affectionate Obedience. 

14 


158 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


verse. It is plain to reason, that whatever means 
may be adopted to bring men to rectitude of con- 
duct, or to pardon them for offences, the rule of 
right itself, founded upon the justice and holiness, 
and sustained by the conscience, of the Eternal, 
must be immutable and eternal as its author ; and 
the means, manifestations, and influences, under the 
different dispensations, are expedients of mercy, de- 
signed and adapted to bring men to act in conform- 
ity with its requirements. 

How, then, under the new dispensation, and in 
conformity with its spiritual and universal charac- 
ter, could love for God be produced in the human 
heart ? 

We will here, again, as the subject in hand is 
most important, notice some of the conditions upon 
which affection for an object may be produced in 
the heart. 

The will is influenced by motives and by affec- 
tion ; and all acts of will produced entirely by pure 
affection, are disinterested acts. There is, probably, 
no one living, who has attained to maturity of years, 
but has, at some period of life, felt affection for an- 
other, so that it was more gratifying to please the 
object of his affection than to please himself. Love 
for another always influences the will to do those 
things which please the object loved ; and the acts 
which proceed from affection are disinterested, not 
being done with any selfish end in view, but to con 
form to the will and meet the desires of another. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


159 


The moment the affections are fixed upon an object, 
tile will is drawn into union with the will of the 
object loved ; and if that object be regarded as su- 
perior, in proportion as he rises above us in the scale 
of being, to obey his will and secure his regard be- 
comes a spontaneous volition of the soul; and the 
pleasure that arises from affectionate compliance 
with the will of a worthy and loved object, does 
not arise because it is sought for, but from the con- 
stitution the Maker has given to the human soul ; 
it is the result of its activity, produced in accordance 
with the law of love. 

All happy obedience must arise from affection, 
exercised towards the object obeyed. Obedience 
which arises from affection blesses the spirit which 
yields it, if the conscience approve of the object 
obeyed. AVhile, on the contrary, no being can be 
happy in obeying one whom he does not love. To 
obey a parent, or to obey God, from interested mo- 
tives, would be sin. The devil might be obeyed 
for the same reasons. All enlightened minds agree 
to what the Bible confirms, and what reason can 
clearly perceive, without argument, that love for 
God is essential to every act of religious duty. To 
tender obedience or homage to God, while we had 
no love for him in our hearts, would be dishonora- 
ble to the Maker, and doing violence to our own 
nature. 

When an object presents itself to the attention, 
whose character engages the heart, then the affec- 


160 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

tions flow out, and the soul acts sweetly in this new 
relation. There is a bond of sympathy between 
the hearts of the two beings, and those things wliich 
affect the one affect the other, in proportion to the 
strength of the cherished affection. One meets the 
desires and conforms to the will of the other, not 
from a sense of obligation merely, but from choice. 
And in thus giving and receiving affection, the soul 
experiences its highest enjoyment, its greatest good ; 
and when the understanding perceives in the object 
loved, perfections of the highest character, and af- 
fection of the purest kind for those that love him, 
the conscience sanctions the action of the heart and 
the obedience of the will, and all the moral powers 
of the soul unite in happy and harmonious ac- 
tion. 

We return, now, to the problem — Under the 
spiritual dispensation of Christ, how could the af 
fections of the soul be awakened by faith, and flxed 
upon God, their proper object ? 

The principle has been stated, which every one 
will recognize as true in his own experience, that 
the more we feel the want of a benefactor, temporal 
or spiritual, and the more we feel our inability to 
rescue ourselves from existing difficulties and im- 
pending dangers, the more grateful love will the 
heart feel for the being, who, moved by kindness, 
and in despite of personal sacrifices, interposes to 
assist and save us. 

Under the Old Testament dispensation the affec- 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 161 

iions of the Israelites were educed and fixed upon 
Grod in accordance with this law of the soul. They 
vvere placed in circumstances of abject need ; and, 
rom this condition of suffering and sorrow, God 
delivered them, and thus drew their hearts to him- 
self Now the Jews, as has been noticed, supposed 
that the Messiah would appear and again confer 
upon them sknilar favors, by delivering them from 
their state of dependence and subjection as a nation. 
But a temporal deliverance of this kind, as has been 
shown, was not consistent with the design of Christ’s 
perfect and spiritual dispensation, which was de- 
signed to save men from. sin and spiritual bondage, 
and restore them to spiritual happiness by restoring 
them to affectionate obedience to the only living and 
true God. 

The inquiry then presents itself, as a feeling of 
want was necessary, in order that the soul might 
love the being that supplied that want — and as 
Jesus came to bestow spiritual mercies upon man- 
kind — Hoid could men be brought to feel the want 
of a spiritual Belief actor and Savior 7 

Allow the thought to be repeated again — Accord- 
ing to the constitution which God has given the 
soul, it must feel the want of spiritual mercies be- 
fore it can feel love for the giver of those mercies ; 
and just in proportion as the soul feels its lost, guil 
ty, and dangerous condition, in the same proportion 
will it exercise love to the being who grants spiritu- 
al favor and salvation. How, then, could the spirit 

14# 


162 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


ual wan ; be produced in the souls of men, in orcter 
that they might love the spiritual benefactor ? 

Not by temporal bondage and temporal suifering, 
because these would lead men to desire a temporal 
deliverance. The only possible way by which man 
could be made to hope for and appreciate spiritual 
mercies, and to love a spiritual deliverer, would be 
to produce a conviction in the soul itself of its evil 
condition, its danger as a- spiritual being, and its 
inability, unaided, to satisfy the requirements of a 
spiritual law^ or to escape its just and spiritual 
penalty. If man could be made to perceive that he 
was guilty and needy ; that his soul was under the 
condemnation of the holy law of a holy God, he 
would then, necessarily, feel the need of a deliver- 
ance from sin and its consequences ; and in this 
way only could the soul of man be led to appre- 
ciate spiritual mercies, or love a spiritual bene- 
factor. 

Mark another fact, in connection with the forego- 
ing, which is to be especially noticed, and which 
will be developed fully in subsequent pages — The 
greater the kindness and self-denial of a benefactor 
manifested in our behalf, the warmer and the 
stronger will be the affection which his goodness 
will produce in the human heart. 

Here, then, are two facts growing out of the con- 
stitution of human nature— First, the soul must 
feel its evil and lost estate, as the pre-requisite con- 
dition, upon which alone it can love a deliverer- 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 163 

Second, the degree of kindness and self-denial in a 
benefactor, temporal or spiritual, graduates the de- 
gree of affection and gratitude that will be awaken- 
ed for him. 

Now, in view of these necessary conditions, mark 
the means which God has used, and the manifesta- 
tions which he has made of Himself, in order to 
secure the supreme love of the human soul. 

In the first place the soul is brought to see and 
feel its evil and lost condition^ and its need of de- 
liverance. 

At the advent of Jesus, the Roman world was in 
precisely the condition, which was necessary to 
prepare it for his doctrines. The Jews had the 
moral law written in their scriptures, and recogni- 
sed it as the will of Jehovah ; and the Gentiles had 
its requirements, concerning their duty to each 
other, and their duty to worship, written upon their 
hearts. Both the doctors among the Jews, and the 
schools of philosophy among the Gentiles, especial- 
ly those of the Stoics, taught the obligatory nature 
of many of the important moral duties which man 
owes to man. No period in the history of the hea- 
then mind ever existed before or since, when man’s 
relations to man were so clearly perceived.* The 
Jews, however, had these advantages, that while 
the few intelligent Gentiles received the instruction 

* For the views of the different schools of Grecian and Roman 
philosophy at this period, and the amount of their indebtedness 
to the Jewish Scriptures, see Enfield’s His. Phil. 


164 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

of the philosophers in relation to morals, as truth, 
it was truth without any higher sanction than that 
of having been spoken by wise men, and therefore 
it contained in itself no authority or weight of ob- 
ligation to bind the conscience ; while they had the 
Moral Law, as a rule of duty, sanctioned by the 
authority and infinite justice of Jehovah. Thus the 
moral virtues assumed the sanction of religious 
duties ; and they had not only the moral precepts 
thus sanctioned, but having been taught the true 
character of God, their religious duties were like- 
wise united in the same sacred decalogue. 

There was, however, in the application of the 
law one most important and vital mistake, in rela- 
tion to what constituted human guilt. The moral 
law was generally applied as the civil law, not to 
the acts of the spirit, but to the acts of the body. It 
was applied to the external conduct of men, not to 
the internal life. If there was conformity to the 
letter of the law in external manners, there was a 
fulfilment, in the eyes of the Jew and the Gentile, of 
the highest claims that God or man held upon the 
spirit. No matter how dark or damning were the 
exercises of tho soul ; if it only kept its sin in its 
own habitation, and did not devolope it in action, 
the penalty of the law was not laid to its charge. 
The character of the spirit itself might be criminal, 
and all its ebcercises of thought and feeling sensual 
and selfish, yet if it added hypocrisy to its guilt, 
and maintained an outward conformity to the law 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 165 

— a conformity itself produced by selfishness, man 
judged himself, and others adjudged him, guiltless. 
Man could not, therefore, understand his own guilt, 
as a spiritual being, nor feel his condemned and lost 
condition, until the requirements of the holy law 
were applied to the exercises of his soul. 

Now, Jesus applied the Divine law directly to 
the soul, and laid its obligation upon the move- 
ments of the will, and the desires. He taught that 
all wrong thoughts and feelings were acts of trans- 
gression against God, and as such would be visited 
with the penalty of the Divine law. Thus he made 
the law spiritual and its penalty spiritual, and ap- 
pealing to the authority of the supreme God, he laid 
its claims upon the naked soul — he entered the se- 
cret recesses of the spirit’s tabernacle — he flashed 
the light of the Divine law upon the awful secrets 
known only to the soul itself; and, with the voice 
of a God, he spoke to the “I” of the mind — Thou 
shalt not loilly nor desire^ wot feel wickedly ! 

When he had thus shown that all the wrong 
exercises of the soul were sin against God, and that 
the soul was in a guilty condition, under the con- 
demnation of the Divine law, he then directs the 
attention to the spiritual consequences of this guilt. 
These he declared to he exclusion from the king- 
dom and presence of God, and penalty which in- 
volved either endless spiritual suffering, or destruo 
tion of the soul itself. The punishment which he 
declared o be 'mpending over the unbelieving and 


166 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

impenitent spirit, he portrayed by using all those 
figures which would lead men to apprehend the 
most fearful and unmitigated spiritual misery. 

Before the impenitent and unpardoned sinner 
there was the destruction of the soul and body in 
hell— consignment to a state of darkness where the 
worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched — 
cursed and banished from God into everlasting fire 
prepared for the devil and his angels — agonizing in 
flame, and refused a drop of water to mitigate the 
agony. Now, these figures, to the minds both of 
Jews and Gentiles, must have conveyed a most ap- 
palling impression of the misery that was impend- 
ing over the soul, unless it was relieved from sin, 
and the consequent curse of the law — Jesus knew 
that the Jews, especially, would understand these 
figures as implying fearful future punishment ; he 
therefore designed to do, what was undoubtedly ac- 
complished, in the mind of every one that believed 
his instruction, which was, to produce a conviction 
of sin in the soul, by applying to it the require- 
ments of the spiritual law of God, and by showing 
that the penalty consequent upon sin was fearful 
and everlasting destruction. We say, then, what 
overy one who has followed these thoughts must 
perceive to be true, that the instruction of Jesus 
would, necessarily, produce in the mind of every 
one that believed^ a conviction that he was a guilty 
and condemned ci'eature, and that an awful doom 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


167 


awaited his soul, unless he received pardon and 
spiritual deliverance. 

Thus, men, by the instruction of Jesus Christ, 
showing the spirituality and holiness of the divine 
law, and applying it, with its infinite sanctions, to 
the exercises of the soul, that condition of mind 
was produced which alone could prepare man to 
love a spiritual deliverer ; and there is no other way 
in which the soul could have been prepared in 
accordance with truth and the constitution of its 
own nature, to appreciate the spiritual mercies of 
God, and love him as a spiritual Savior. 

The Law and the Truth being exhibited by 
Christ in the manner adapted to produce the con- 
dition of soul prerequisite to the exercise of affec- 
tion for spiritual deliverance — now, as God was the 
author of the law, and as he is the only proper ob- 
ject both of supreme love and obedience ; and, as 
man could not be happy in obeying the law with- 
out loving its author ; it follows, that the thing now 
necessary in order that man’s affections might be 
fixed upon the proper object of love and obedience 
was, that the supreme God should, by self-denying 
kindness, manifest spiritual mercy to those who felt 
their spiritual wants, and thus draw to Himself the 
love and worship of mankind. If any other being 
should supply the need^ that being would receive 
the love ; it was therefore necessary that God him- 
self should do it, in order that the affection of 
believers might centre upon the proper object. 


168 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

But, notice, that in order to the accomplishment 
of this end, without violating the moral constitution 
of the universe, it would be essentially necessary, 
that the holiness of God’s law should be maintain- 
ed. This W3uld be neccessary, because the law is, 
in itself, the will of the Godhead, and God himself 
must be unholy before his will can be. And what- 
ever God may overlook in those who know not their 
duty, yet, when he reveals his perfect law, that law 
cannot, from the nature of its Author, allow the 
commission of a single sin. But, besides, if its ho- 
liness were not maintained, man is so constituted 
that he could never become holy. Every change 
to a better course in man’s life, must be preceded 
by a conviction of error — man cannot repent and 
turn from sin till he is convicted of sin in himself. 
Now, if the holiness of the law, as a standard of 
duty, was maintained, man might thus be enlight- 
ened and convicted of sin, until he has seen and 
felt the last sin in his soul ; and if the law allowed 
one sin, there would be no way of convicting man 
of that sin, or of converting him from it ; he would 
therefore, remain, in some degree, a sinner forever. 
But, finally and conclusively, if the holiness of the 
law was not maintained, that sense of guilt and 
danger could not be produced which is necessary 
in order that man may love a spiritual Savior, 
Jesus produced that condition by applying to the 
soul the authority, the claims, and the sanctions of 
the holy law. It is impossible, therefore, in the 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


169 


nature of things, for a sinful being to appreciate 
God’s mercy, unless he first feel his justice as man 
ifested in the holy law. Love in the soul is pro- 
duced by the joint ii,ifluence of the justice and 
mercy of God. The integrity of the eternal law, 
therefore, must be forever maintained.’*' 

* The preceeding views are confirmed, both by the character 
of the moral law, and by its design and exposition, as given by 
the Apostles of Christ. The moral law, or the rule and obliga- 
tion of moral rectitude in the sight of God, wliich is revealed in 
the scriptures, and interpreted by Christ, as obligatory upon the 
thoughts and feelings of the soul, is not only in its nature, of per- 
petual and universal obligation, and adapted to produce convic- 
tion of sin in every soul that is sensible of transgressing its re- 
quirements ; but the scriptures expressly declare, that it was de- 
signed to produce conviction of sin in the soul, in order to prepare 
It to receive the gospel. 

The moral law is set forth in the scriptures as holy, just, and 
good, in its character ; and whatever may be its eflects upon the 
soul itself, that its character is such no intelligent being in the 
universe can doubt, because it requires of every one perfect holi- 
ness, justice, and goodness ; It requires that the soul should be 
perfectly free from sin in the sight of God ; and, as we have seen, 
God ought not to allow one sin ; if He did, the law would not be 
holy, nor adapted to make men holy. But the more holy the law, 
the more conviction it would produce in the mind of sinners. If the 
law extended only to external conduct, men would not feel guilty 
for their wrong thoughts, desires, or designs ; and if it extended 
only to certain classes of spiritual exercises, men would not feel 
guilty for those which it did not condemn ; but, if it required that 
the soul itself— the spiritual agent — the “ I” of the mind — should 
be holy, and all jts thoughts and feelings in accordance with the 
law of love and righteousness, then the soul would- be convicted 
15 



r- 




170 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


How, then, could God manifest that mercy to 
sinners, by which love to Himself and to his law 

of guilt for a single wrong exercise, because while it felt that 
the law was holy, just and good, it could not but feel condemned 
in breaking it. When Christ came, therefore, every soul that 
was taught its spirituality, would be convicted of sin. One of 
two things men had to do, either shut out its light from their 
soul, and refuse to believe its spiritual and perfect requirements, 
or, judge and condemn themselves by those requirements. And 
while the law thus showed sin to exist in the soul, and condemn- 
ed the soul as guilty and liable to its penalty, it Imparted no 
strength to the sinner to enable him to fulfil its retpurements : it 
merely sets forth the true standard, which is holy in itself, and 
which God must maintain ; and, by its light, it shows sinners 
their guilt, condemns them, and leaves them under its curse. 

Now, the scriptures declare that this is the end which, by its 
nature, it is adapted to accomplish, and that it was revealed to 
men with the design to accomplish this end, and thus lead men to see 
and feel the necessity of justification and pardon by Jesus Christ. 
The scripture saith, « It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, 

than one tittle of the law to fail.” « The law workelh wrath, 

where there is no law, there is no transgression.” “Moreover, 
the law entered that the offence might abound, fur where sin 
abounded, grace did much more abound; that as sin had reigned 
unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness, un- 
to eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.’^ Mark the following 

« Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to 
them that are under the law ; that every mouth may be stopped, 
and all the world become guilty before God ; therefore by the 
deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified ; for by the law is the 
knowlege .of sin.” 

The argument of the Apostle in vindicating the holiness of 
the law, while it, at the same time, produced conviction and con- 
demnation, is conclusive. « What shall we say then ? Is tlie law 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 171 

would be produced, while His infinite holiness and 
justice would be obtained I 
We answer, in no way possible but by some ex- 
pedient, by which his justice and mercy would both 
be exalted. If, in the wisdom of the Godhead, such 
a way could be devised, by which God himself 
could save the soul from the consequences of its 
guilt — by which He himself could in some way 
suffer and make self-denials for its good ; and, by 
his own interposition, open a way for the soul to 
recover from its lost and condemned condition, then 
the result would follow inevitably, that every one 
of the human family who had been led to see and 

sin ? God forbid ! Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law ; for 
I had not known lust, except the law had said Thou shalt not 
covet ; (i. e. I would not have felt covetousness to be sin, except 
the law had condemned it as such :) For I was alive, (i, e. not 
consciously condemned) without the law once, but when the law 
came, sin revived and I died ; and the commandment which was 
ordained to life, i. e. which required the soul to be holy and there- 
Ibre alive to God) I found to be unto death. For sin, taking oc- 
casion by the commandment, (or acts shown to ^be sin by the 
commandment,) deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the 
law is holy, and the commandment is holy, just and good. Was 
then that which is good made death unto me ? God forbid. But 
sin, that it might appear sin, (i. e. sin which did exist in the soul, 
was made to appear in its true evil character) working death in 
me by that which is good, (i. e. the holiness of the law showed 
the evil of sin,) that sin by the commandment might become ex- 
ceedingly sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual, but 1 
am carnal, sold under sin.” And then, for deliverance from this 
bondage, he looks to Christ— « For the law of the spirit of life 


173 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


feel his guilty condition before God, and who be* 
lieved in God thus manifesting Himself to rescue 
his soul from spiritual death — every one, thus be- 
lieving, would, from the necessities of his nature, 
be led to love God his Savior ; and — mark — the 
greater the self-denial and the suffering on the part 
of the Savior, in ransoming the soul, the stronger 
would be the affection felt for Him. 

This is the central and vital doctrine of the Plan 
of Salvation. We will now, by throwing light and 
accumulating strength upon this doctrine from dif- 
ferent points, illustrate and establish it beyond the 
possibility of rational doubt. 

ia Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death,” 
&c. And mark again — « Is the law then against the promises, 
of God ? God forbid ; for if there had been a law given that could 
have 'given life, verily righteousness would have been of the law 
(i. e. while the law showed the soul to be unholy and condemned 
to spiritual death, it provided no means for the relief of the sin- 
ner; no influence by which love and holiness could be produced 
in the heart.) But the scriptures (that is, the revelation of law 
in the scriptures) hath concluded all under sin, that the promise 
by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto 
the faith which should afterwards be revealed ; wherefore the 
law was our school-master to bring us unto Christ, that we might 
be justified by faith.” 

Now, from the above scriptures, it is evident that the Apostle 
understood the law not only to be adapted, but designed by its 
author, to show the soul its guilty and lost condition, its inability 
to free itself from the condemnation to which it was liable, and 
to prepare it, at the proper time, to trust in and love Christ for 
salvation from sin, and spiritual death, the consequence of sin. 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


173 


1 . 


The testimony of jesus that it was necces- 

SARY MAN SHOULD FEEL THE WANT, IN ORDER 

TO EXERCISE THE LOVE. 

Jesus uniformly speaks of it as being necessary, 
that previously to accepting him as a Savior, the 
soul should feel the need of salvation. He does not 
even invite the thoughtless sinner, or the godless 
worldling, who has no sense of the evil or the 
guilt of sin, to come to him. Said Jesus, I came 
not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” 
“ The whole need not a physian, but they who are 
sick.” “ Come unto me, all ye who are weary and 
heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” “ If any 
man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.” 
“Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after 
righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Thus 
the points which have been shown to be necessary, 
from the constitution of things, in order to the soul’s 
loving God, are presented in the same light by 
Jesus himself ; and upon the principle which they 
involve,. he acted during his ministry. ^ 

2 . 

The testimony of the scriptures that god 

DID THUS MANIFEST HIMSELF AS SUFFERING 

AND MAKING SELF-DENIALS FOR THE SPIRIT- 
UAL GOOD OF MEN. 

God was in Christ, says the Apostle, reconciling 
15 ^ 


174 PHILOSOPHY OP THE 

the world to Himself : that is, God was in Christ 
doing those things that would restore to Himself the 
obedience and affection of every one that believed. 
Christ represents himself as a ransom for the soul ; 
as laying down his life for believers. He is repre- 
sented as descending from an estate of the highest 
felicity ; taking upon him the nature of man, and 
humbling himself even to the death of the cross : a 
death of the most excruciating torture ; and thus 
bearing the sins of men in his own body on the tree, 
that through his death God might be just, and the 
justifier of every one that believeth in Jesus. 

It was thus, by a self-denial surpassing descrip- 
tion— by a life of labor for human good, accom- 
plished by constant personal sacrifices, and tending, 
at every step, towards the centre of the vortex. He 
went on until, finally, life closed to a crisis, by the 
passion in the garden — the rebuke, and the buffet, 
and the cruel mockery of the Jews and the Romans 
—and then, bearing his cross, faint with former 
agony of spirit, and his flesh quivering with recent 
scourging, he goes to Calvary, where the agonized 
sufierer for human sin, cried “ it is finished,” and 
gave up the ghost. 

Such is the testimony of the Scriptures ; and it 
may be affirmed, without hesitancy, that it would 
be impossible for the human soul to exercise full 
faith in the testimony, that it was a guilty and needy 
creature, condemned by the holy law of a holy 
God ; and that from this condition of spiritual guilt 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


175 


and danger, Jesus Christ suffered and died to ac- 
complish its ransom — we say a human being could 
not exercise full faith in these truths and not love 
the Savior. 

3 . 

The atonement op christ produces the ne- 
cessary EFFECT UPON THE HUMAN SOUL, IN 
RESTORING IT TO APFCTIONATE OBEDIENCE, 
WHICH NEITHER PHILOSOPHY, LAW, NOR PRE- 
CEPTIVE TRUTH, COULD ACCOMPLISH. 

The wisdom of Divine Providence was conspic- 
uous in the fact, that previously to the introduction 
of Christianity, all the resources of human wisdom 
had been exhausted in efforts to confer upon man 
true knowledge and true happiness. Although 
most of the great names of antiquity, were con- 
spicuous rather for those properties which rendered 
them a terror and a scourge to mankind ; and, al- 
though society, among the ancients, in its best es- 
tate, was little better than semi-barbarism ; yet, 
there was a class in society during the Augustan 
and Periclean age, and even at some periods before 
that time, that was cultivated in mind and manners. 
From this class, individuals at times arose who 
were truly great — men distinguished alike for the 
strength, compass, and discrimination of their in- 
tellect. In all the efforts of these men, with the 
exception of those who applied themselves exclu- 
sively to the study of physical phenomena, the 


176 PHILOSOPHY OP THE 

great end sot :ght was the means or secret of human 
liappiness. All admitted that human nature, as 
they found it, was in an imperfect or depraved con- 
dition, and not in the enjoyment of its chief good : 
and the plans which they proposed, by which to 
obtain that happiness, of which they believed the 
soul sdsceptible, were as various, and diverse from 
each other, as can be imagined. No one of these 
plans ever accomplished, in any degree, the end de- 
sired. And no one of them was ever adapted to, 
or embraced by the common people. The philoso- 
phers themselves, after wrangling for the honor of 
having discovered truth, and making themselves 
miserable in the pursuit of happiness, died ; and 
man was left unsatisfied and unhappy, philosophy 
having shed only sufficient light upon his mind to 
disclose more fully the guilty and wretched state of 
his heart. 

There are, perhaps, two exceptions to these re- 
marks as applied to the great minds of antiquity, 
those are Socrates and his pupil Plato. These men, 
with a far-penetrating insight into the constitutional 
wants of man, contemplating the disordered and 
unhappy condition of human nature, and inquiring 
for a remedy adequate to enlighten the mind, and 
give the heart a satisfying good, perceived that 
th3re was not in the resources of philosophy, nor 
within the compass of human means, any power 
that could reach the source of the difficulty, and 
rectify the evil of human nature, which consisted 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


177 


in a want of benevolent alfection.* Inferring from 
the nature of man what would be necessary, and 
trusting in the goodness of the Deity to grant the 
requisite aid, they expressed their belief that a di- 
vine teacher would come from heaven, who would 
restore truth and happiness to the human soul.f 

* That Plato had some idea of the want, and none of wha* 
was necessary to supply it, may be seen in the fact that in order 
to make men love as brethren, which he saw to be neccessary, he 
recommended a community of wives to the members of his ideal 
Republic. 

t In Plato’s dialogue upon the duties of religious worship, a 
passage occurs, the design of which appears to be, to show that 
man could not, of himself,- learn either the nature of the gods, or 
the proper manner of worshipping them, unless an instructor 
should come from heaven. The following remarkable passage 
occurs between Socrates and Alcibiades : — 

Socrates To me it appears best to be patient. It is necessa** 

ry to wait till you learn how you ought to act towards the gcxZs, 
and towards men. 

Alcibiades. — When, 0 Socrates, shall that time be ? and who 
will instruct me 1 for most willingly would I see this person, who 
he is. 

Socrates . — He is one who cares for you ; but, as Homer repre- 
sents Minerva, as taking away darkness from the eyes of Dio- 
medes, that he might distinguish a God from a ; so it is ne- 
cessary that he should first take away the darkness from your 
mind ; and then bring near those things by which you shbS >tnow 
good and evil. 

Alcibiades . — Let him take away the darkness, or any other 
thing, if he will ; f'r whoever this man is, I am prepared to re- 
fuse none of the things which he commands, if I shall be made 
better . — Pla fonts Alcibiad. ii. ' 


178 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


It is strange that among pilosophers of succeed- 
ing ages there has not been wisdom sufficient to 
discover, from the constitutional necessities of the 
human spirit, that demand for the instruction and 
aid of the Messiah, which Socrates and Plato dis- 
covered, even in a comparatively dark age. 

There are two insuperable difficulties, which 
would forever hinder the restoration of mankind to 
truth and happiness from being accomplished by 
human means. The first, which has been already 
alluded to, is, that human instruction, as such, has 
no power to bind the conscience. Even if man 
were competent to discover all the truth necessary 
for a perfect rule of conduct, yet that truth would 
have no reformatory power, because men could 
never feel that truth was obligatory, which proceed- 
ed from merely human sources. It is an obvious 
principle of our nature, that the conscience will not 
charge guilt on the soul for disobedience, when the 
command proceeds from a fellow man, who is not 
recognised as having the prerogative and the right 
to require submission. And, besides, as men’s 
minds are variously constituted, and of various ca- 
pacities, there could be no agreement in such a case 
concerning the question, “ What is truth ?” As 
well might we expect two school-boys to reform 
each other’s manners in school, without the aid of 
the teacher’s authority, as that men can reform 
their fellows, without the sanction of that authority 
which will quicken and bind the conscience. The 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


179 


human conscience was made to recognise and en- 
force the authority of God, and unless there is be- 
lief in the Divine obligation of truth, conscience 
refuses to perform its office. 

But the grand difficulty is this : — Truth, whether 
sanctioned by conscience or not, has no power, as 
has been shown, to 'produce love in the heart. 
The -aw may convict and guide the mind, but it 
has no power to soften or to change the affections. 
This was the precise thing necessary, and this ne- 
cessary end the wisdom of the world could not ac- 
complish. All the wisdom of all the philosophers 
in all ages, could never cause the affections of the 
soul to rise to the holy blessed God. To destroy 
selfish pride, and produce humility — to eradicate 
the evil passions, and produce in the soul desires 
for the universal good, and love for the universal 
Parent, was beyond the reach of earthly wisdom 
and power. The wisdom of the world in their ef- 
forts to give truth and happiness to the human soul, 
was foolishness with God ; and the wisdom of God 
—CHRIST CRUCIFIED— was foolishness with 
the philosophers, in relation to the same subject:* 

• From an observation of one of the Fathers, it would seem 
that after the Grospel had been preached among the Greeks, many 
of them perceived its adaptedness to accomplish the end for which 
they had sought in vain. « Philosophy,” says Clemens of Alex- 
andria, « led the Greeks to Christ, as the law did the Jews.” 

Concluding paragraph of the apology of M. Minucius Felix in 
defence of Christianity : A. D. 250. 

« To conclude •, the sum of our boasting is, tnat we are got 


180 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


yet, it was Divine Piiiosophy : an adapted means, 
and the only adequate means, to accomplish the 
necessary end. Said an apostle in speaking upon 
this subject, “The Jews require a sign, and the 
Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ 
crucijiedj unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto 
the Greeks foolishness, but to them who are called, 
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God^ 
and the xoisdom of God” The Jews, while they 
required a sign, did not perceive that miracles, in 
themselves, were not adapted to produce affection. 
And the Greeks, while they sought after wisdom, 
did not perceive that all the wisdom of the Gentiles 
would never work love in the heart. But the apos- 
tle preached CHRIST CRUCIFIED, an exhibition 
of self-denial, of suffering, and of self-sacrificing 
love and mercy, endured in behalf of men ; which, 
when received by faith, became the power of God 
and the wisdom of God to produce love and obedi- 
ence in the human soul. Paul understood the effi- 
cacy of the cross. He looked to Calvary and be- 
held Christ crucified as the sun of the gospel sys- 
tem. Not as the moon, reflecting cold and borrow- 
ed rays ; but as the Sun of Righteousness, glowing 

into possession of what the Philosophers have been always in 
quest of ; and what, with aL their application, they could never 
find. Why then, so much ill-will stirring’ against us ? If divine 
Truth is come to perfection in our time, let us make a good use 
of the blessing; let us g-Dvern our knowledge with discretion; 
let superstition and impiety be no more ; and let true religion tri- 
umph in their stead.” 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


181 


with radiant mercy, and pouring warm beams of 
life and love into the open bosom of the believer. 

4. 

ANALOGY BETWEEN THE MORAL AND PHYSICAL 
LAWS OP THE UNIVERSE. 

The laws which govern physical nature are 
analogous to those which the gospel introduces into 
the spiritual world. The earth is held to the sim 
by the power of attraction, and performs regularly 
its circuit around the central, sustaining luminary ; 
maintaining, at the same time, its equal relations 
with its sister planets. But the moral system upon 
the earth is a chaos of derangement. The attrac- 
tion of affection which holds the soul to God, has 
been broken, and the soul of man, actuated by self- 
ishness — revolving upon its own centre only — ^jars 
in its course with its fellow spirits, and crosses their 
orbits ; and the whole system of the spiritual world 
upon earth, revolves in disorder, the orbs wandering 
and rolling away from that centre of moral life and 
power which alone could hold them in harmonious 
and happy motion. Into the midst of this chaos of 
disordered spirits, God, the Sun of the spiritual 
world, came down. He shed light upon the moral 
darkness, and by coming near, like the approaches 
of a mighty magnet, the attraction of his mercy, 
as manifested in Christ crucified, became so pow- 
erful, that many spirits, rolling away into darkness 
and destruction, felt the efficacy, and were drawn 
16 


182 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


back, and caused to move again, in their regular 
orbits, around the ‘ Light’ and ‘ Life’ and ‘ Love’ 
of the spiritual system. 

If free agency could be predicated of the bodies 
of the solar system, the great law which governs 
their movements might be expressed thus — Thou 
shall attract the Sun with all thy might, and thy 
sister planets as thyself. The same expression 
gives the great law of the spiritual world. ‘ Thou 
shalt love the Lord with all thy soul, and thy neigh- 
bor as thyself.’ Now, if a planet had broken away 
from its orbit, it would have a tendency to fly off 
forever, and it never could be restored, unless the 
sun, the great centre of attraction, could, in some 
way, follow it in its wanderings, and thus by the 
increased power of his attraction, as he approached 
nearer to the fallen planet, attach it to himself, and 
then draw it back again to its original orbit. So 
with the human spirit ; its affections were alienated 
from God, the centre of spiritual attraction, and they 
could never have been restored, unless God had ap- 
proached, and by the increased power of his mercy, 
as manifested in the self-denial, suflbrings, and death 
of Christ, united man again to himself, by the pow- 
er of affection, that he might thus draw him up from 
his misery and sin, to revolve around him, in har- 
mony and love, forever. 

If this earth had, by some means, broken away 
from the sun, there would be no way possible of re- 
covering it again to its place in the system, but that 


PLAN OF SALVATIDN. 


183 


which has been mentioned — that the sun should 
leave his central position, and approach the wander- 
ing orb, and thus, by the increased power of his at- 
traction, draw back the earth to its original position, 
But the sun could not thus leave the centre of the 
system, without drawing all the other planets from 
their orbits by the movement to recover the lost 
one. The relations of the system would be broken 
up, and the whole solar economy sacrificea, if the 
universal and equal law of gravitation was inirin- 
ged by the sun changing his position and his rela- 
tions in the system. 

Further, the establihed laws of the physical uni- 
verse would render it impossible that any other plan- 
et should be the instrument of recovering the earth 
to the sun. If another planet should approach the 
earth while thus wandering, the increased power of 
attraction would cause the two globes to revolve 
around each other ; or if the approaching planet 
was of greater magnitude, the earth would revolve, 
as a satellite, around it. But, this would not be to 
restore the earth to its place in the system, nor to its 
movement around the sun, but to fix it in a wrong 
position and a wrong movement, and thus alienate 
it forever from the central source of light and heat. 
It follows, therefore, that in accordance with the es- 
tablished laws of thf solar system, the earth could 
never be recovered, but would fly off forever, or be 
broken into asteroides. 

There would, therefore, be no way possible fo 


184 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


the recovery of the earth, unless God should adopt 
an expedient unknown to the physical laws of the 
universe. (This, all who believe that God is Al- 
mighty, and Himself the author of those laws, will 
allow that he might do.) That expedient must not 
destroy the great laws of the system, upon which 
the safety of all its parts depend, but an augmented 
force of attraction must be thrown upon the earth 
from the sun itself, which would be sufficient to 
check the force of its departing momentum, and gra- 
dually draw it back to its place. If a portion of the 
magnetic power of the sun could be thrown into the 
earth, an adhesion would take place between it and 
the earth, and then, after the cord was fastened, if 
that body of attractive matter could ascend again to 
the body of the sun, the earth would receive the re- 
turning impulse, and a new and peculiar influence 
would be created to draw it back to its allegiance to 
the sun. If as has been said, the power came from 
any other body but the sun itself, or attracted to- 
wards any other body, the earth would lose its place 
in the system forever.• ** 

So in the moral world : God’s relations to the 
moral universe must be sustained. The infinite 

• These illustrations are not to be applied to the mole of exis- 
tence, or subsistence, in the Godhead : but, as God is the author 
of both the physical and moral laws, and as the atracticn of 
gravitation in physics corresponds with the attraction of affection 

in morals, an analogy of what would be necessary under one, is 
taken ta what was accomplished by Christ under the other. 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 185 

justice and holiness of the Divine law must not be 
compromised. The end to be gisined is, to draw 
man, as a revolted sinner, back to God, while the in- 
tegrity of God’s moral goverment is maintained. 
Now, affection is the attraction of the moral uni- 
verse. And, in accordance with the foregoing de- 
duction, to reclaim alienated man to God would be 
impossible, unless there should be a manifestation 
of the Godhead in the world, to attract to himself 
man’s estranged alFections, and then, after the affin- 
ity was fastened by faith, by bis ascending again to 
the bosom of the Diety, mankind would thus be 
gradually drawn back to allegiance to Jehovah. 

5 . 

ILLUSTRATIONS FROM NATURE AND THE SCRIP- 
TURES. 

The Plan of Salvation is likened unto a vine 
which has fallen down from the boughs of an oak. 
It lies prone upon the ground; it crawls in the dust, 
and all its tendrils and claspers, which were formed 
to hold it in the lofty place from which it had fallen, 
are twined around the weed and the bramble, and 
having no strength to raise itself, it lies fruitless and 
corrupting, tied down to the base things of the earth. 
Now, how shall the vine arise from its fallen condi- 
tion ? But one way is possible for the vine to rise 
again to the place from whence it had fallen. The 
bough of the lofty oak must be let down, or some 
communication must be formed connected with the 
16 * 


18G 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


top of the oak and at the same time with the earth. 
Then^ wh^n the bough of the oak was let down to 
the place Avhere the vine lay, its tender claspers 
might fasten upon it, and, thus supported, it might 
raise itself up, and bloom and bee’* fruit again in the 
lofty place from whence it fell. 3o with man — his 
affections had fallen from God, and were fastened 
to the base things of the earth. Jesus Christ came 
down, and by his humanity stood upon the earth, 
and by his divinity raised his hands and united 
himself with the Deity of the everlasting Father : 
thus the fallen affections of man may fasten upon 
him, and twine around him, until they again ascend 
to the bosom of the Godhead, from whence they fell. 

It was thus that Prophets, Evangelists, Apostles, 
and the son of God himself, presented the divine 
scheme of human redemption. Christ is the 
‘ branch’ by which the vine may recover itself from 
its prone and base condition : he is the ‘ Arm of the 
Lord’ by which he reaches down and rescues sinful 
men from the ruins of the fall : “ through whom,” 
says Peter, “ ye believe in [i. e. believe in 

God manifested through Christ,] “ that raised him 
up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your 
faith and hope might he in GodP Says Paul, 
‘ Your life is hid with Christ in God.” Jesus him- 
self proclaimed that the believer should have within 
him “ a well of water, springing up into everlasting 
life” — that is, he that believeth in Christ crucified, 
the hard heart within him will be struck by the rod 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


187 


of faith, and in his soul there will he a well of pure 
and living affection, springing up to God forever. 
And again : “ Jesus cried, and said. He that believeth 
on me, believeth not on me, but on Him that sent me ; 
and he that seeth me, seeth Him that sent me 
i. e. Christ was God acting^ developing the divine 
attributes through human nature, so that men might 
apprehend aud realize them. God might have been 
as merciful as he is, if Christ had never died ; but 
man could never have known the extent, nor felt 
the power, of his mercy, but by the exhibition on 
the cross. His mercy could have been manifested 
to man’s heart in no other way. And men cannot 
love God for what he truly is, unless they love Him 
as manifested in the suffering and death of Christ 
Jesus. “ I am the way, the truth, and the life ; no 
man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” ‘‘ If ye 
had known me, ye would have known my Father 
also, and from henceforth ye know him, and have 
seen him.” 

6 . 

THE PRECEDING VIEWS ESTABLISHED BY REDUC- 
TIO AD ABSURDUM. 

It is necessary that man should know the charac- 
ter of the true God, and feel the influence of that 
character upon his mind and heart. But human 
nature, as at present constituted, could not be made 
to feel the goodness of God’s mercy, unless God- 
blessed be his name— should make self-denials for 


188 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


man’s benefit ; either by assuming human nature, 
or in some other way. [And is it not true tJcat 
God could make self-denials for men in no other 
way that would he plain to their apprehension^ ex- 
cept hy embodying his Godhead in human nature!) 
Mercy can be manifested to man, so as to make an 
impression upon his heart, in no other way than by 
labor and self-denial. This principle is obvious. 
Suppose an individual is confined, under condem- 
nation of the law, and the governor, in the exercise 
of his powers, pardons him : this act of clemency 
would produce upon the heart of the criminal no 
particular effect, either to make him grateful, or to 
make him better. He might, perhaps, be sensible 
of a complacent feeling for the release granted ; but 
so long as he knew that his release cost the gover- 
nor nothing but a volition of his will, there would 
be no basis in the prisoner’s mind for gratitude and 
love. The liberated man would feel more gratitude 
to one of his friends, who had labored to get peti- 
tions before the governor, for his release, than to the 
governor who released him. To vary the illustra- 
tion — suppose that two persons, who are liable to be 
destroyed in the flames of a burning dwelling, are 
rescued by two separate individuals. The one is 
enabled to escape by an individual who, perceiving 
his danger, steps up to the door and opens it, with- 
out any efibrt or self-denial on his part. The other 
is rescued in a different manner. An individual, 
perceiving his danger and liability to death, ascends 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


189 


to him, and by a severe effort, and while he is him- 
self suffering from the flames, holds open the door 
until the inmate escapes for his life. Now the one 
who opened the door without self-denial, may have 
been merciful, and the individual relieved would 
recognise the act as a kindness done to one in peril ; 
but no one would feel that that act proved that the 
man who delivered the other manifested any special 
mercy, because any man would have done the same 
act. But the one who ascended the ladder and 
rescued, by peril, and by personal suffering, the in- 
dividual liable to death, would manifest special 
mercy, and all who observed it would acknowledge 
the claim ; and the individual rescued would feel 
the mercy of the act, melting his heart into grati- 
tude to his deliverer, unless his heart was a moral 
petrifaction. 

What are, in reality, the facts by which alone men 
may know that any being possesses a benevolent 
nature ? Not, certainly, by that being conferring 
benefits upon others, which cost him neither person- 
al labor, nor self-denial ; because we could not tell 
but these favors would cease the moment they in- 
volved the least degree of sacrifice, or the moment 
they interfered with his selfish interests. But when 
it requires a sacrifice, on the part of a benefactor, to 
bestow a favor, and that sacrifice is made, then be- 
nevolence of heart is made evidently manifest. Now 
mark — any being who is prompted, by benevolence 
of heart, tc make sacrifices, may riot lose happiness, 


190 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


in the aggregate, by so doing ; for a benevolent na 
ture finds happiness in performing benevolent acts. 
Self-denials are^ therefore^ not only the appro- 
priate method of manifesting benevolence to men^ 
hut they are likewise the appropriate manifesta- 
tions of a benevolent nature. Now, suppose God 
is perfectly benevolent ; then, it follows in view of 
the foreofoingf deductions, in order to manifest his 
true nature to men, self-denials would be necessary, 
in order that men might see and feel that “ God is 
love.” It is clear, therefore, that those who reject 
the divinity of Christ, as connected with the atone- 
ment, cannot believe in God’s benevolence; be- 
cause, God is really as benevolent as the self-denials 
of Christ (believed in as divine) will lead men to 
feel that he is : nor can they believe in the mercy 
of God in any way that will produce an effect upon 
their hearts. To say that the human heart can be 
deeply affected by mercy that is not manifested by 
self-denial, is to show but little knowledge of the 
springs which move the inner life of the human 
soul. Man will feel a degree of love and gratitude 
for a benefactor who manifests an interest in his 
wants, and labors to supply them ; but he will feel 
a greater degree of grateful love for the benefactor 
who manifests an interest in his wants, and makes 
self-denials to aid him. To deny, therefore, the di- 
vine and meritorious character of the atonement, is 
to shut out both the evidence and the effect of God’s 
mercy from the soul. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


191 


111 accordance with this view, is the teaching of 
the scriptures. There is but one thing which is 
charged against men, in the New Testament, as a 
fundamental and soul-destroying heresy^ and that 
is, not denying the Lord, hut, “ denying the Lord 
that bought them.” It is rejecting the purchase of 
Christ by his self-denying atonement, which causes 
the destruction of the soul, because it rejects the 
truth which alone can produce love to the God of 
love. 

But further : the facts have been fully proved, 
that God Jehovah, by taking a personal interest in 
the well-being of the Israelites, and laboring to se- 
cure their redemption, secured their affections to 
himself; and that His acts of mercy produced this 
effect was manifested by their song after their final 
deliverance at the Red Sea. “ O sing unto Jeho- 
vah, for he has triumphed gloriously ; the horse 
and his rider he has thrown into the sea. Jehovah 
is my strength and song, and has become my sal- 
vation.” In like manner, Jesus Christ secured to 
himself, in a greater degree, the affections of Chris- 
tians, by his self-denying life and death, to ransom 
them from spiritual bondage and misery. The Is- 
raelites in Egypt were under a temporal law so se- 
vere, that while they suffered in the greatest degree, 
they could not fulfil its requirements : they there- 
fore, loved Jehovah for temporal deliverance. The 
believer was under a spiritual law, the require- 
ments of which he could not fulfil, and therefore he 


192 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

loved Christ for spiritual deliverance. This fact, 
that the supreme affection of believers was thus 
fixed upon Christ, and fixed upon him in view of 
his self-sacrificing love for them, is manifest through- 
out the whole New Testament — even more mani- 
fest than that the Jews loved Jehovah for temporal 
deliverance. “ The love of Christ constrains me 
says one : thus manifesting that his very life was 
actuated by affection for Jesus. Says another — 
speaking of early Christians generally — “ Whom 
[Christ] having not seen, ye love ; and in whom, 
though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye re- 
joice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” The 
bible requires men to perform their religious duties, 
moved by love to Christ : “ And whatsoever ye do, 
do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men ; 
knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the re- 
ward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord 
Christ.” Mark — these Christians were moved in 
what they did^ what they said^ and what they felt, 
by love to Christ : love to Jesus actuated their whole 
being, body and soul. It governed them. 

Now, suppose that Jesus Christ was not God, noi 
a true manifestation of the Godhead in human na- 
ture, but a man, or angel, authorized by God to ac- 
complish the redemption of the human race from 
sin and misery. In doing this, it appears, from the 
nature of things and from the scriptures, that he 
did what was adapted to, and what does, draw the 
h^art of every true believer — q.s in the case of the 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 193 

apostle and the early Christians — unto himself, as 
the supreme or governing object of affection. Their 
will is governed by the will of Christ ; and love to 
him moves their heart and hands. Now, if it be 
true that Jesus Christ is not God, then he has de- 
vised and executed a plan, by which the supreme 
aifections of the human heart are drawn to himself, 
and alienated from God, the proper object of love 
and worship : and, God having authorized this 
plan, he has devised means to make man love Christ, 
the creature, more than the Creator, who is God 
over all, blessed for evermore. 

But, is it said that, Christ having taught and suf- 
fered by the will and authority of God, we are 
under obligation to love God for what Christ has 
done for us ? It is answered, that this is impossible. 
We cannot love one being for what another does or 
suffers in our behalf. We can love no being for la- 
bors and self-denials in our behalf, but that being 
who voluntarily labors and denies himself. It is 
the kindness and mercy exhibited in the self-denial 
that moves the affections ; and the affections can 
move to no being but the one that makes the self- 
denials, because it is the self-denials that draw out 
the love of the heart. 

Is it still said, that Christ was sent by God, to do 
His will, and not his own ; and therefore we ought 
to love God, as the being to whom gratitude and 
love is due,' for what Christ said and suffered ? 
Then it is answered : if God willed that Christ, as 
17 


194 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


a creature of his, should come, and by his sufferings 
and death redeem sinners, we ought not to love 
Christ for it, because he did it as a creature, in obe- 
dience to the commands of God, and was not self- 
moved nor meritorious in the work ; and we cannot 
love God for it, for the labor and self-denial was not 
borne by him. And further ; if one being, by an 
act of his authority, should cause another innocent 
being to suffer, in order that he might be loved who . 
had imposed the suffering, but not borne it, it would 
render him unworthy of love. If God had caused 
Jesus Christ, being his creature, to suffer, that he 
might be loved himself for Christ’s sufferings, while 
he'had no connection with them, instead of such an 
exhibition, on the part of God, producing love to 
him, it would produce pity for Christ, and aversion 
towards God. So that, neither God, nor Christ, nor 
any other being, can be loved for mercy extended, 
by self-denials, to the needy, unless those self-deni- 
als were produced by a voluntary act of mercy upon 
the part of the being who suffers them. And no 
being, but the one who made the sacrifices, could 
be meritorious in the case. It follows, therefore, 
uncontrovertibly, that if Christ was a creature — no 
matter of how exalted worth— and not God; and 
if God approved of his work in saving sinners, he 
approved of treason against his own government ; 
because, in that case, the work of Christ was adapt- 
ed to draw, and did necessarily, draw the affections 
of the human soul to himself, as its spiritual Savior, 


PLAN OP SALVATION 195 

and thus alienate them from God, their rightful ob 
ject. And Jesus Christ himself had the design of 
drawing men’s affections to himself in view, by his 
crucifixion : says he, “ and I, if I be lifted up from 
the earth, will draw all men unto me.” This he 
said, signifying what death he should die : thus dis- 
tinctly stating that it was the self-denials and mercy 
exhibited in the crucifixion that would draw out 
the affections of the human soul, and that those af- 
fections would be drawn to himself as the suffering 
Savior. But that God would sanction a scheme 
which would involve treason against Himself, and 
that Christ should participate in it, is absurd and 
impossible, and therefore cannot be true. 

But if the divine nature was united with the hu- 
man, in the teaching and work of Christ — if “ God 
was in Christ, [drawing the affections of men, or] 
reconciling the world to himself” — if, when Christ 
was lifted up, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the 
wilderness, he drew, as he said he would, the affec- 
tions of all believers to himself ; and then, if he as- 
cended, as the second person of the Trinity, into the 
bosom of the eternal Godhead — He, thereby, after 
he had engaged, by his work on earth, the affec- 
tions of the human soul, bore them up to the bo- 
som of the Father, from whence they had fallen. 
Thus the ruins of the fall were rebuilt, and the af- 
fections of the human soul again restored to God, 
the Creator, and proper object of supreme love. O 
the length, and the breadth, and the depth, and the 


196 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 

height, of the divine wisdom and goodness, as man- 
ifested in the wonderful Plan of Salvation. “Great 
is the mystery of godliness : God was manifest in 
the flesh — justified in the spirit — seen of angels — 
preached unto the Gentiles — believed on in the 
world — received up into Glory” — amen: blessing 
and honor, dominion and power, be unto Him that 
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for 
ever and ever : Amen and amen. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


197 


CHAPTER XVI. 

CONCERNING THE INFLUENCE OP FAITH IN CHRIST 
UPON THE MORAL DISPOSITION AND MORAL POW- 
ERS OP THE SOUL. 

It has been demonstrated that the teaching and 
atonement of God the Savior would draw to him, 
by faith, the affections of the human heart. We 
will now inquire what particular effect that faith in « 
Christ, which works by love, has upon the moral 
disposition, the conscience, the imagination, and the 
life of believers. — Would faith in Christ, as a divine 
suffering Savior, quicken, and regulate, and harmo- 
nize the moral powers of the soul ? 

1 . 

The INFLUENCE OP FAITH IN CHRIST UPON THE 
MORAL DISPOSITION OF THE SOUL. 

When its dispositon is affected, the soul is affec- 
ted to the centre of its being. By disposition, is 
meant the desires or predilections of the heart, 
which influence the choice of the will to good or 
evil. The radical difference of character in spirits 
depends upon their disposition. The spirit that has 
a settled love for sin and hatred for holiness, is a 
devil, whether it be in time or eternity — embodied 

17 # 


198 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


or disembodied. And that spirit which has a set- 
tled love for holiness, is a benevolent spirit, in what 
ever condition it exists. A devil or malignant 
spirit, is one that seeks its gratification in habitual- 
ly doing evil. A holy being, or benevolent spirit, 
is one that finds its gratification in habitually doing 
good. Whatever, therefore, affects the moral dis- 
position of the soul, affects radically, the character 
of the soul. It becomes, therefore, a question of 
the deepest interest — What effect will faith in Christ 
have upon man’s moral disposition ? 

The solution of this inquiry is not difficult. Is 
Jesus Christ holy 7 All Christendom, skeptics and 
believers, answer in the affirmative. Now, the love 
of a holy being, will, as a necessary result, counter- 
act unholiness in the heart. Holiness is the antag- 
onist principle of sin. The soul cannot love a holy 
being, and at the same time cherish those principles 
and exercises, which, it is conscious, are offensive 
to the soul of the beloved object. From the nature 
of the case, love to holiness will produce opposi- 
tion to sin. Love is the fulfilling of the law, and 
sin is the transgression of the law ; so that, while 
the soul is*entirely actuated, in all its exercises, by 
pure love to Christ, those exercises of the heart 
cannot be sinful. 

When the heart is attached to any being, espe- 
cially when that being is lovely and pure in his 
character, it becomes averse to every thing which, 
from its evil nature, causes suffering to the object 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


199 


of its atfections. There are few things which will 
cause one to feel so sensibly the evil of sin, as to 
see that his sins are causing anguish to one that he 
loves. 

It is said of Zeleucus, a king of the ancient Locri, 
that he enacted a law the penalty of which was that 
the offender should lose both his eyes. One of his 
sons became a transgressor of that law. The father 
had his attachment to his son, and the law he him- 
self had promulgated as righteous in its require- 
ments and in its penalty. The lawgiver, it is said, 
ordered his son into his presence, and required that 
one of his eyes should be taken out ; and then, in 
order to show mercy to his son, and at the same 
time maintain the penalty of the law, he sacrificed 
one of his own eyes as a ransom for the remaining 
eye of his child. Now, we do not refer to this case 
as a perfect analogy, but to show the moral effect of 
such an exhibition of justice and self-sacrificing mer- 
cy. As man is constituted, it is perfectly certain that 
this transaction would produce two effects : one upon 
the subjects of the king, which would be to impress 
upon every heart that the law was sacred, and that 
the lawgiver thus regarded it. This impression 
would be made much more strongly, than it would 
have been if the king had ordered that his son should 
lose both his eyes : because it manifested, in the 
stro2igest manner possible, his love for his son, and 
his sacred regard for his law. If he had allowed 
his son to escape, it would have exhibited to his 


200 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

subjects less love for his law, and if he had execu- 
ted the whole penalty of the law upon the son, in- 
stead of bearing a portion of it himself, he would 
have manifested less love for his son. The king 
was the lawgiver ; he, therefore, had the power to 
pardon his son, without inflicting the penalty upon 
him, and without enduring any sacrifice himself. 
Every mind, therefore, would feel that it was a vol- 
untary act on the part of the king : and such an ex- 
hibition of justice and mercy, maintaining the law 
and saving his son, by his own sacrifice, would 
impress all minds with the deepest reverence for 
the character of the lawgiver, and for the sacred- 
ness of the law. 

But, another effect, deep and lasting in its char- 
acter, would be produced upon the son who had 
transgressed the law. Every time that he looked 
upon his father, or remembered what he had suffer- 
ed for his transgression, it would increase his love 
for him, increase his reverence for the law, and 
cause an abhorence of his crime to arise in his soul. 
His feelings would be more kind towards his sire, 
more submissive to the law, and more averse to 
transgression. 

Now, this is precisely the eflbct necessary to be 
produced, in order that pardon may be extended to 
transgressors, and yet jtist and righteous govern- 
ment be maintained. If civil law had some expe- 
dient, by which, with the offer of pardon, some in 
flue/ice could be exerted upon the heart of the trans 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


201 


gressor which would entirely chano:e his character; 
an influence which would make him love the law 
he had transgressed, hate the crime he had com- 
mitted, hate himself for committing it, and implant 
within him the spirit of an obedient and faithful sub- 
ject — if such an effect could be produced by par- 
don, then pardon would be safe ; because there 
would be some means, or some moral power connect- 
ed with it, that would, at the same time that the par- 
don was granted, change the moral disposition of 
the criminal from that of a rebellions, to that of a 
faithful and affectionate subject. This expedient the 
civil law can never have. Such an expedient was 
that of Zeleucus, the self-sacrificed lawgiver and 
father. Such an expedient, in some respects, in the 
moral government of God is the atoning sacrifice 
of Jesus Christ. “ Christ,” says the Prophet, “was 
bruised for our iniquities says the Apostle, “ He 
bore our sins in his own body on the tree says 
Himself, “ this is my body broken for you}'‘ Now, 
two effects would follow this exhibition of the self- 
sacrificing love of Christ. One in the heart of the 
believing sinner : — every time he realized by faith 
that the Divine Savior suffered the rebuke, the scorn 
and the cross, as a sacrifice for his sins, he would 
regard the Savior with greater love ; and sin, which 
caused the suffering of his divine Benefactor, he 
would regard in himself and others with greater 
abhorrence. Another effect which would result 
would be, that all the holy beings in the universe, 


202 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

if they had knowledge of the self-sacrifice of God 
the Savior, as an atonement to maintain the law and 
redeem sinners, would be inspired with greater rev- 
erence for the eternal law, and greater aversion to 
sin. Thus would the faith of Christ affect the moral 
disposition of believers, and of all holy beings 
throughout the universe ; drawing the believer bacK 
to holiness and obedience, and adding a new motive 
to confirm holy beings in happy allegiance. 

The language of the apostle confirms this view : 

“ What the law could not do, in that it was weak 
through the fiesh, God, sending his own son, in the 
likeness of sinful flesh, ahd for sin, condemned sin 
in the flesh” — That is, the law, although it had 
power to show to the mind the evil and the guilt of 
sin, had no power to produce in the heart an aver- 
sion to it ; but Christ coming in the body, and dying 
for sin, in that way reaches man’s moral feelings, 
and creates a sentiment of condemnation of, or 
aversion to sin, in the heart of every believer. 

A feeling cannot be manifested by intellect or will. 
A communication of knowledge, or law, does not 
manifest feeling so that it produces feeling in others. 
The moral feelings of God were manifested by the 
sacrifice of Christ ; and that manifestation, through 
the flesh, affects the moral feelings of man, assimi- 
lates them to God, and produces an aversion to sin, 
the abominable thing which God hates. Blessed 
faith ! whic/i, while it purifies the heart, works by 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


203 


the sweet influence of love in accomplishing the 
believer’s sanctification. 

2 . 

The influence of faith in Christ upon the 

MORAL SENSE, OR CONSCIENCE OF BELIEVERS. 

To a mind endowed with the higher qualities of 
reason, there can be no more interesting thought 
than that noticed in a previous demonstration; 
which was, that a man’s conscience is guided by 
his faith. Conscience is the highest moral faculty, 
or rather, the governing moral power of the soul ; 
and this governing faculty is regulated and control- 
led by faith. Man’s conscience always follows his 
religious belief, and changes with it, and grows 
weak or strong with it. Now, as God has so con- 
stituted the soul, that the afiections, and likewise 
the conscience, are aflected and controlled by faith 
and the purity of the one, and the integrity of the 
other, and the activity of both, • depend upon what 
man believes ; this being true, no mind can avoid 
the conviction, that the principle of faith, which 
Christ has laid at the foundation of the Christian 
system, is, from the nature of things, the only prin- 
ciple through the operation of which man’s moral 
powers can be brought into happy, harmonious and 
perfect activity. But this happy effect, as has oeen 
shown, can be produced only by faith in the Truth ; 
and, besides, it is an intuition of reason, that God 
certainly would r.ot make the soul so that its moral 


204 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


powers would be controlled by faith, and then cause 
that faith in falsehDod should perfect and make 
happy those powers. Such a supposition would be 
a violation of reason, as well as an impiety. In 
searching, therefore, for the answer to the inquiry, 
What is Truth 7 as it concerns the spiritual in- 
terests of man, the direct process of solution would 
be, to inquire what effect certain facts, or supposed 
facts, would have upon the moral disposition and 
moral powers of the soul ; and that faith which 
quickens and rectifies those powers, as we have no- 
ticed, is necessarily truth. 

We come now to the inquiry. What effect has 
faith in Christ — in the divinity of his person, in 
his teaching, and in his atonement for sin — upon 
the conscience of believers 7 

The answer is plain. Those who received Christ 
as possessing supreme authority as a divine teacher; 
their faith would so affect their conscience, that it 
would reprove for every neglect of conformity to 
the example of Jesus. The moment faith recog- 
nises Christ as a divine instructor, that moment con- 
science recognises his instruction and his example as 
obligatory to be received and practiced. To the be- 
liever, the teachings and example of Christ, have not 
only the force of truth, recognised as such by the un- 
derstanding, but they have likewise the authority of 
suprem.e law, as coming from that divine Being, 
who is the rightful lawgiver of the soul. Now, 
then, if faith in Christ would regulate the con 


PLAN OF SALVATION, 


205 


science according to his example and precepts, the 
only inquiry which remains, is. Were the example 
and precepts of Christ a perfect rule of duty tO' 
wards God and men ? This inquiry has been the 
subject of examination in another chapter, in which 
the fact was shown — which has been generally ad- 
mitted by all men, believers and skeptics — that 
Christ’s example of piety towards God, and kind- 
ness towards men, was perfect. When this is ad- 
mitted, the consecutive fact follows, whether men 
perceive it or not, that in the case of all who re 
ceive him as their Lord and lawgiver, the conscience 
would be regulated according to a perfect standard, 
and guided by a perfect rule. 

But further — While it is true that a knowledge 
of duty guides the conscience, and a knowledge of 
the divine authority of the lawgiver binds it, by im- 
posing a sense of obligation ; it is likewise true that 
faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice has peculiar efiicacy 
to strengthen this sense of obligation. Two men 
may have an equal knowledge of duty, and yet one 
feel, much more than the other, a sense of obliga- 
tion to perform it : whatever, therefore, increases 
the sense of obligation, increases the power of con- 
science, and thereby promotes, in a greater degree, 
active conformity of the life to the rule of duty. 

The atonement of Christ increases the sense of 
obligation, by waking into exercise gratitude and 
hope in the soul of the bel’ever. Gratitude gives 
the conscience a power in the soul where it exists, 
18 


206 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


which could arise from no other source. Conscience 
reproves for the neglect of known duty ; but to neg 
lect duty, when it involves the sense of gratitude 
to the kindest of benefactors, is to arm the moral 
sense of the soul with a two-edged sword. When 
the lawgiver is likewise the benefactor, conscience 
rebukes, not only for wrong doing, but for ingrati- 
tude. One step further — 

When the being who claims our obedience, is not 
only our benefactor, but the object of all our hopes, 
the power of obligation is still further increased. 
To disobey a being whom we ought to obey, would 
be wrong ; to disobey that being, if he was our self- 
denying benefactor, would be ingratitude added to • 
the wrong ; and to disobey that being, if from him 
we hoped for all future good, would be to add un- 
worthiness to wrong and ingratitude : thus, faith in 
Christ Jesus combines the sense of wrong, of ingrati- 
tude, and unworthiness, in the rebuke which con- 
science gives to the delinquent believer ; and obedi- 
ence to the Redeemer’s example and precepts is en- 
forced by the united power of duty, gratitude, and 
hope. 

Further, and finally — Conscience recognises the 
fact that our obligation of gratitude is in proportion 
to the benefit conferred. If a benefactor has en- 
dured great sacrifices and self-denials to benefit us, 
the obligation of gratitude binds us the more strong- 
ly to respect the will and feelings of that individ- 
ual. Conscience feels the obligation of gratitude 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 207 

just ill proportion to the self-denials and sacrifices 
made in our behalf. If a friend risks his interest to 
the amount of a dollar, or an hour of time, to bene- 
fit us, the obligation of gratitude upon the con- 
science is light, but still there is a sense of obliga- 
tion ; but, if a friend risks his life, and wades through 
deep afilictions to confer benefits, the universal con- 
science of man would affirm the obligation, and would 
reprobate the conduct of the individual benefitted, 
as base and unnatural, if he did not ever after man- 
ifest an affectionate regard for the interests and the 
desires of his benefactor. 

Thus, by faith in Jesus Christ, the conscience is 
not only guided by a perfect rule, but it is likewise 
quickened and empowered by a perfect sense of obli- 
gation. Christ is the divine lawgiver ; therefore it 
is right to obey him. He is our benefactor ; grati- 
tude, therefore, requires obedience : but, as our bene- 
factor, he has endured the utmost self-denial and 
sacrifice for our sake, therefore we are under the 
utmost obligation of gratitude to return self-denial 
and sacrifice for his sake ; or, in the words of an 
apostle, “He died for all, that they which live 
should not henceforth live unto themselves, but 
unto him who died for them, and rose again and, 
added to this, our hope of all future good rests in 
the same Being that right .and gratitude require us 
to obey and love. Thus does a perfect faith in 
Christ perfect the conscience of believers, by guid- 


208 


PHILOSOPRY OF THE 


ing, quickening, and by producing a perfect sense (rf 
obligation. 

3 . 

The influence of faith in chrtst upon the 

IMAGINATION. 

There are few exercises of the mind fraught with 
so much evil, and yet so little regarded, as that of 
an evil imagination. Many individuals spend much 
of their time in a labor of spirit which is vain and 
useless, and often very hurtful to the moral charac- 
ter of the soul. The spirit is borne off upon the 
wings of an active imagination, and expatiates 
among ideal conceptions that are improbable, absurd 
and sinful. Some people spend about as much time 
in day dreams as they do in night dreams. Imagi- 
nations of popularity, pleasure, or wealth, employ 
the minds of worldly men; and perchance the 
Christian dreams of wealtli, and of magnificent 
plans of benevolence, or of schemes less pious ir 
their character. It is difficult to convey a distinct 
idea of the evil under consideration, without sup- 
posing a case like the following : 

One day while a young man was employed si- 
lently about his usual pursuits, he imagined a train 
of circumstances by which he supposed himself to 
oe put in possession of great wealth ; and then he 
imagined that he would be the master of a splendid 
mansion, surrounded with grounds devoted to profit 
and amusement — he would keep horses and con- 
veyances that would be perfect in all points, and 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


209 


servants that would want nothing in faithfulness or 
affection — he would be great in the eyes of men, 
and associate with the great among men, and ren- 
der himself admired or honored by his generation. 
Thus his soul wandered, for hours, amid the ideal 
creations of his own fancy. 

Now, much of men’s time, when their attention 
might be employed by useful topics of thought, is 
thus spent in building ‘ castles in the air.’ some 
extraordinary circumstance is thought of by which 
they might be enriched, and then hours are wasted 
in foolishly imagining the manner in which they 
would expend their imaginary funds. Such excur- 
sions of the fancy may be said to be comparatively 
innocent, anf thay are so, compared with the more 
guilty exercises of a great portion of mankind. 
The mind of the politician and the partisan divine 
is employed in forming schemes of triumph over 
their opponents. The minds of the votaries of fash- 
ion, of both sexes, are employed in imagining dis- 
plays and triumphs at home and abroad, and those 
of them who are vicious, at heart, not having their 
attention engaged by any useful occupation, pollute 
their souls by cherishing imaginary scenes of folly 
and lewdness. And not only the worthless votarias 
of the world, but likewise the followers of the holy 
Jesus, are sometimes lid captive by an unsanctified 
imagination. Not that they indulge in the sinful 
reveries which characterize the unregenerate sons 
and daughters of time and sense ; but their thoughts 


210 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


wan ler to unprofitable topics, dnd wander at times 
when they should be fixed on those truths which 
have a sanctifying efficacy upon the heart. In the 
solemn assemblies for public worship, many of those 
whose bodies are bowed and their eyes closed in 
token of reverence for God, are yet mocking their 
Maker by assuming the external semblance of wor- 
shippers, while their souls are away wandering 
amid a labyrinth of irrelevant and sinful thought. 

It is not affirmed that the exercises of the imagi- 
nation are necessarily evil. Imagination is one of 
the noblest attributes of the human spirit ; and there 
is something in the fact, that the soul has power to 
create, by its own combinations, scenes of rare 
beauty, and of perfect happiness, unsullied by the 
imperfections which pertain to earthly things, that 
indicates not only its nobility, but perhaps its future 
life. When the imagination is employed in paint- 
ing the beauties of nature ; or, in collecting the 
beauties of sentiment and devotion, and in grouping 
them together by the sweet measures of poetry, its 
exercises have a benign influence upon the spirit. 
It is like presenting ‘ apples of gold in pictures of 
silver’ for the survey of the soul. The imagina- 
tion may degrade and corrupt, or it may elevate and 
refine the feelings of the heart. The inquiry, then, 
is important. How may the exercises of the imagi- 
nation be controlled and directed so that their in- 
fluence upon the soul shall not be injurious, but en- 
nobling and purifymg ? Would faith in Christ turn 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


211 


the sympathies of the soul away from those gifted 
but guilty minds, 

« Whose poisoned song 

Would blend the bounds of right and wrong j” 

And hold, with sweet but cursed art, 

Their incantations o’er the heart. 

Till every pulse of pure desire 
Throbs with the glow of passion’s fire. 

And love, and reason’s mild control. 

Yield to the simoon of the soul ? 

When the conscience had become purified and 
quickened, it would be a check upon the erratic 
movements of the imagination ; and when the dis- 
position was corrected, it would be disinclined to 
every unholy exercise ; so that, in the believer, the 
disinclination of the will and the disapprobation of 
the conscience would be powerful aids in bringing 
into subjection the imaginative faculty. But, more 
than this, faith in Christ would have a direct influ- 
ence in correcting the evils of the imagination. It 
is a law of mind, that the subject which interests an 
individual most, subordinates all other subjects to 
itself, or removes them from the mind and assumes 
their place. As a group of persons, who might be 
socially conversing upon a variety of topics, if some 
venerable individual should enter and introduce an 
absorbing subject, in which all felt interested, minor 
topics would be forgotten in the interest created by 
the master subject. So when ‘ Christ crucified’ en- 
enters the presence-chamber of the believer’s soul, 
the high moral powers of the mind bow around in 
obeisance; and even imagination folds her starry 


212 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

wings around her face, and bows before Immanueb 
When the cross of Christ becomes the central sub' 
ject of the soul, it has power to chasten the imagi- 
nation, and subdue its waywardness by the sublime 
exhibition of the bleeding mercy in the atonement. 
The apostle perceived the efficacy of the cross in 
subduing vain reasoning and an evil imagination, 
and alludes to it in language possessing both strength 
and beauty, as “casting down imaginations, and 
every high thing that exalteth itself against the 
knowledge of God, and [mark] bringing into cap- 
tivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” 

That these views are not idle speculations, but 
truthful realities, is afiirmed by the experience of 
every Christian. When the imagination is wander- 
ing to unprofitable or forbidden subjects, all that is 
necessary in order to break the chain of evil sugges- 
tion, and introduce into the mind a profitable train 
of thought, is to turn the eye of the soul upon the 
“Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the 
world.” By the presence of this delightful and sa- 
cred idea every unworthy and hurtful thought will 
be awed out of the mind. 

Thus does faith in the blessed Jesus control and 
purify the imagination of believers. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


213 


4 . 

The influence of faith inchristupon the 
LIFE : leading man to such conduct as will 

EVENTUALLY ACCOMPLISH THE SALVATION OF THE 
whole human FAMILY. 

It is certain that men have all the faculties, which, 
if rightly directed, would be necessary to enable 
them to benefit and bless each other. Suppose one 
individual did all in his power to do others good 
and make them happy, who can limit the amount 
of consolation which that man might impart to the 
children of want and sorrow ; or the amount of light 
he might shed upon the minds of the ignorant ; or 
the rebukes and warnings he might sound in the 
ears of those who persisted in sin ? Suppose a who^e 
community of such individuals, denying themsekres 
the selfish ease and worldly pleasures which the 
children of this world seek after, and devoting their 
lives to spread around them the blessings and benefits 
of the gospel — should individuals or communities de- 
sire thus to devote their lives to benevolence instead 
of selfish effort — it is certain the Creator has en- 
dowed them with every faculty necessary to the ac- 
complishment of such a work. They have hearts 
to love their fellow men : they have reason and lan- 
guage to learn themselves, and then to instruct 
others. They can travel to where the ignorant and 
the needy dwell, either at home or abroad: or, if 
they feel disqualified personally to do this, they have 
hands to labor for the means to send otners on er 


214 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


rands of benevolence throughout the world. That 
men have been created with the faculties^ therefore 
to diffuse the blessings which they possess, through 
out the world, no one can doubt. 

But, second, men are so constituted, that the ex 
ercise of these faculties, in a manner that would 
bless others, would likewise produce a blessing in 
their own souls. It is a fact in experience, as well 
as philosophy, that the exercise of any power of the 
soul, gives increased strength to that power. By 
exercising their selfish and malevolent feelings, 
men become continually more selfish and malevo- 
'ent — while, on the contrary, by exercising sr«f-de- 
nial and the benevolent feelings, men become con- 
tinually more benevolent. Selfishness^ all admit, 
is an evil in the heart. Self-denial is its antago- 
nist ‘principle ; and it is Iry invigorating the latter 
hy exercise, that the former evil principle is to he 
eradicated. It would, therefore, be the greatest 
benefit to those who possessed blessings, to induce 
them to exercise benevolence by communicating 
them to others. 

It follows, therefore, that not only the greatest 
good of the guilty and the ignorant, require self- 
denying benevolence, in those who have the means 
and the power to enlighten and guide them to truth 
and happiness ; but likewise, that the greatest good 
of those possessing blessings, is, to impart them to 
others. “ It is more blessed to give than to receive 
because, by the ex Brcise of self-denial to do good. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


215 


benevolence is strengthened in the soul ; and from 
benevolent exercises arises the blessedness of the 
spirit. Men are constantly making sacrifices to ad- 
vance their own aggrandizement, and thus, by in- 
creasing their own selfishness, they make themselves 
more miserable : the great end to be gained, is, to 
lead them to make sacrifices for others, and thus, 
with others, bless themselves. 

Now, no one doubts that the whole human family, 
in the days of Christ, needed the blessing of an en- 
lightening and purifying religion. And no one 
doubts that the ultimate end of a religion from heaven 
would be the greatest ultimate good of the entire 
race. Three things, then, are obvious : 1. That a 
religion from heaven would be designed ultimately 
to bless the whole world. 2. That the best good of 
mankind, as a family, required that they should be 
the instruments in disseminating this religion among 
themselves. 3. That the principle of self-denial, or 
denying ourself the ease and pleasures of selfish- 
nesSy in order to perform acts of benevolence, is the 
great principle by which the operation of spreading 
this religion would be carried on. 

Now, Jesus Christ professed to give a universal 
spiritual religion ; one which encircled in its design, 
and was to bless by its influence, the whole family 
of man and faith he set forth as the great motive- 
power of the whole plan. The question then is— 
Would faith in Christ lead men to that method of 
living and acting, and to the possession of those 


216 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


Tiews and feelings which would make them instru- 
mental in benefitting each other, and which would 
lestroy selfishness and promote the happiness and 
interest of the whole family of man, in accordance 
with the three principles above specified ? 

1. It has been shown that the example and pre- 
cepts of Christ become the guide to conscience, and 
die rule of faith and practice for all believers. What 
then has Christ said and done to induce men to do 
each other good, and to unite the race of man in one 
harmonious and happy family ? 

The gospel of Christ possesses all the character- 
istics of a universal religion. It is adapted to hu- 
man nature : not to any particular country or class 
of men ; but^ as has been shown^ to the nature of 
the race. Its truths are intelligible, and may be 
understood by all men, and transferred into all lan- 
guages. It is spiritual in its character; designed 
to affect the mind and heart of man ; so that wherever 
intelligent beings are to be found, there it may be 
introduced into the- heart by faith, to correct the 
spiritual evils of their nature, and produce happiness 
in the soul.* 

The precepts and teaching of Jesus are designed 
and adapted to harmonize the race of man into one 
happy family. Instead of the abominations and fol- 
ly of polytheism, he presented before the minds of 
men one common object of worship ; and so exhi 


See Reinhard’s Plan sec. 17, 22; 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


217 


bited the character of that object, by presenting be- 
fore the world a grand spectacle of self-denying 
mercy, that the exhibition was adapted to attract 
the attention of all, and draw all hearts to one cen- 
tre of affection. 

In all his instructions to regulate the conduct of 
men, he viewed them as brethren of the same great 
family, and taught them to consider themselves as 
such. No retaliation was to be offered for injuries 
received, but the injured child was to appeal only 
to the Great Parent of the family. No one might 
treat another as his enemy ; and no one was to cease 
in efforts to do good to another, unless he perceived 
that those efforts .were treated with contempt, and 
instead of benefitting, had a hardening effect upon 
the heart. 

2. Their lives were to be spent in efforts to im- 
part those blessings which they possessed, to their 
brethren of the human family who possessed them 
not. Instead of the unhallowed and anxious strug- 
gle which worldly men manifest to raise themselves 
to power over their fellows, their efforts were to be 
directed to the opposite end ; to raise the ignorant 
and the needy to the enjoyment of the blessings and 
privileges which they possessed. 

This active and constant effort to extend the 
blessings which they possessed to others, and to re- 
lieve men from their vices and ignorance, was not to 
stop with their own kindred, or nation, or tongue, 
19 


218 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


nor to be restricted to the grateful, or the deserving , 
in this respect, their philanthropy was to be modelled 
after that of their heavenly Father, who causeth his 
sun to shine upon the just and the unjust. It was 
to continue during life ; and to extend to the ends 
of the earth. And in proportion as men were found 
in a condition of ignorance and want, in the same 
proportion they were to make benevolent exertions 
to elevate and bless them. 

Now, every one can see, that if these precepts 
were obeyed, strife between individuals and nations 
would cease, and the glorious process of benevo- 
lent etfort would go on, until the last benighted 
mind was enlightened, and the last corrupted heart 
purified by the power of the faith of Christ. 

It was necessary^ in connexion with these ‘pre- 
cepts^ that some m,otive should he presented to cause 
men to deny themselves^ in order to act in accord- 
ance with them. Now it has been shown that the 
believer acts in view of the character and will of Je- 
sus. Christ, therefore, in order to give these pre- 
cepts moving power upon the souls of men, identi- 
fied himself with his needy creatures, and sanc- 
tioned the duty which he prescribed to others, by 
conformity to it himself, so that these precepts, given 
to govern men’s conduct in this life, he made the rule 
of judgment in heaven’s court of equity, and by them 
the decision will be made out, which will settle, final- 
ly, the spiritual destiny of men. Inasmuch as ye 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


219 


did it not to one of the least of these my brethren, 
ye did it not unto me.” Thus Christ identifies him- 
self with the most needy of mankind ; and receives 
an act of kindness done to them, as done to himself. 
When the love of Christ, therefore, constrains men, 
he has so exhibited his will, that it constrains them 
to act for the good of each other. Those that love 
Jesus, therefore, and expect his favor, must serve him 
by doing good to others. 

Moreover, Christ has sanctioned these precepts by 
his own example. His life was a life of self-deny- 
ing labor for the benefit of our race ; and his com- 
mand to every one is — Deny thyself ; take up thy 
cross, and follow me. Thus, by Christ’s precepts, 
by his example, and especially by his identifying him- 
self with those in need, that method of life is sane 
tioned, which alone could make man the benefactor 
of his fellows — unite the human family in one happy 
brotherhood — and make them blessed in doing each 
other good, in the faith of Christ. 

Those that love Jesus will desire to do his will — 
will find their happiness in obeying him — and that 
will is, that they should labor to benefit his crea- 
tures. Those who believe in and love Jesus, will 
have their conscience regulated by his precepts and 
example. Thus, the conscience of believers is set, 
(if I may so express it,) so that it will regulate the 
movement of their life in such a manner, as finally 
to work out the salvation of a world lying in wick- 
edness. 


220 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


It follows, therefore, that faith in Jesus Christ is 
directly designed and adapted to strengthen men^s 
benevolent affections, and to produce in believers 
that active desire and effort for the gocd of others, 
which will necessarily produce the dissemination of 
the light and love of the gospel throughout the whole 
habitable world. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


221 


CHAPTER XVIL 

CONCERNING THE DESIGN AND THE IMPORTANCE 
OF THE MEANS OF GRACE. 

1 . — P R A Y E R . 

It has been shown that, constituted as we are, 
the manifestations made of the character and attri- 
butes of God in the Scriptures, are adapted to pro- 
duce the greatest good in the human spirit ; and, 
in order that that good may be eifected, it is neces- 
sary that the truths of the Scripture be brought in- 
to contact with the soul that it may be impressed 
and influenced by them. The truths and manifes- 
tations of Revelation are the elements of moral 
power, which, apprehended by faith, are eflfective 
in purifying the fountain of life in the soul, and in 
rectifying and regulating its exercises ; it follows, 
therefore, that the requirement to bring those truths 
before the mind in a particular manner, would be a 
duty necessarily connected with the revelation of 
the doctrines, as directions for taking the,medicine 
are connected with the prescription of a physician 
into whose hands a patient has submitted himself. 
Now, prayer, or worship, is one method by which 
the truths and manifestations of Revelation are di 
19 * 


223 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


rectly brought before the contemplation of the soul. 
Prayer brings the mind to the immediate contem- 
plation of God’s character, and holds it there, till 
by comparison and aspiration the believer’s soul is 
properly impressed, and his wants properly felt. 
The more subtle physical processes and affinities 
become, the better are the analogies which they 
furnish of processes in the spiritual world. The 
influence of believing prayer has a good analogy in 
the recently discovered Dageurotype. By means 
of this process the features of natural objects are 
thrown upon a sensitive sheet through a lens, and 
leave their impression upon that sheet. So when 
the character of God is, by means of prayer, brought 
to bear upon the mind of the believer — that mind 
being rendered sensitive by the Holy Spirit — it im- 
presses there the Divine image. In this mannei 
the image of Christ is formed in the soul, the exis- 
tence of which the scriptures represent as inspiring 
the believer with the hope of glory. 

In the introductory chapter it was shown that the 
impulse which leads men to worship proves a curse 
to the soul, where the objects worshipped are unho- 
ly, and that the only remedy for the evil was the 
revelatim of a holy object for the supreme homage 
of the human soul. So soon as a righteous and 
benevolent God is presented before the mind, then 
prayer becomes a blessing instead of a curse to the 
soul. Look at the subject in the forn\.of a syllo- 
gism — 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 223 

Man, by worshipping, becomes assimilated to the 
nioral character of the object that he worships : 

The God of the bible, as manifest in Christ Jesus, 
\i the only perfectly righteous and perfectly benevo- 
lent Being ever worshipped by man : 

Therefore, man can become righteous and bene- 
volent in no other way but by that worship which 
will assimilate him to the God of the bible. 

And further, as it has been demonstrated that 
righteousness and benevolence produce the recti- 
tude and the happiness — the greatest good— of the 
soul, man can gain the great end of his being only 
by that worship which assimilates his nature to the 
moral image of God. 

It follows, therefore, that prayer is a necessary 
and most important means of grace — a duty grow- 
ing out of the nature of the case, and a duty upon 
which depends, in a great measure, the well-being 
of the human spirit. The apostle understood the 
philosophy of this subject when he said — “ But we 
all, with open face, beholding as in a glass, the 
glory of the Lord, are changed into the same im- 
age, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of 
the Lord.” Therefore it is that the commandment 
that men should pray is presented in the bible in 
every variety of language ; and it is constantly re- 
peated by the inspired writers and by the Son of 
God himself, who commended, by his precepts and 
<5xample, private, social, and public prayer* and 


221 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


who taught by a parable that “ men ought always 
to pray and not to faint.’^ 

The in portance of strong desire and importunity 
in prayer. 

It is impossible to produce grateful feelings by 
granting a benefit for which the recipient has no 
desire. If a child asked for bread when it was not 
hungry, and if, while the child had no feeling of 
want, its unieii request was answered by its father, 
it could neither appreciate the gift, nor be grateful 
for it. The soul is so constituted, as has been fully 
shown, that it must really feel the need of the bene- 
fit, before it can appreciate its importance, or be 
grateful for the favor received. So it is in the case of 
the suppliant in prayer : if he has an anxious de- 
sire, a spirit of importunate solicitude, for the bles- 
sing which he asks, when he receives it, gratitude 
and praise will, as the consequence of gratified de- 
sire, spring up in the heart. Now, mark, if there 
was not a feeling of importunate desire in the mind 
of the suppliant, God could not be glorified nor the 
creature benefitted by an answer to prayer. God 
could not be glorified, because his goodness would 
not be felt and acknowledged in the answer. And 
the creature could not be benefitted, because it is 
the feeling of gratitude and praise in his own heart 
which constitutes the spiritual blessing, so far forth 
as the suppliant himself is concerned ; and this eX’ 
ercise is never produced, only in so far as it is pre- 
ceded by dependent and anxious desire for the bles- 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 225 

sing sought. When the supplication is for spiritual 
blessing upon another individual, two minds are 
blessed by the answer, the individual prayed for, 
and the individual who prays. And if a thousand 
individuals desired spiritual mercies for that soul, 
God would be glorified by a thousand hearts, and 
a thousand hearts would be reciprocally blessed by 
the answer. The time may come when all the an- 
gels in heaven, and all the saints upon earth, will he 
blessed by mercy bestowed upon a single individ- 
ual : when the last unregenerated s-inner stands in 
solitary and awful rebellion upon the earth, should 
tidings be circulated through earth and heaven that 
he had submitted himself to God, and that his aifec- 
tions began to take hold on Christ, every being in 
the universe, who had strongly desired the conver- 
sion of the last sinner, would feel the thrill of ^ glory 
to God and good will to men,’ arise in his soul. It 
follows, therefore, that a fervent, importunate state 
of mind, is, from the nature of the case, necessary, 
in order that God may he glorified, and man blessed, 
by the duty of prayer. It was in view of these con- 
stitutional principles that Jesus constantly taught 
the necessity of desire and importunity, in order that 
mercies might be received in answer to the suppli- 
catim of saints.* 


•Matt. 5j 6. Luke 11 ; 5 — 10, and 18 j 1 — 14. 


226 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


The im'portance of faith and a spirit of depend^ 

ence upon God, as concomitants of acceptable 

prayer. 

The necessity of faith, as a primary element in all 
acceptable religions exercises has already been no- 
ticed. A feeling of entire dependence upon God for 
spiritual mercies is the only right feeling, because 
it is the only true feeling. As a matter of fact, the 
soul is entirely dependent upon God for spiritual 
mercies : truth, therefore, requires that our depend- 
ence should be acknowledged and felt. 

But, further, without faith in God as the imme- 
diate bestower of mercies in answer to prayer. He 
could not be honored for blessings received. Sup- 
pose two individuals desired with equally strong 
feelings the same blessing, and that both received it ; 
each would rejoice alike in its reception : but sup- 
pose there was this difference in their state of mind : 
one regarded the blessing as coming immediately 
from God in answer to prayer, the other did not. 
The result would be, that the one who had faith in 
God would be filled with love to his Maker for the 
mercy — the other would rejoice in himself ; or, at 
least, he would not rejoice in God. In the one case, 
God would be honored and praised for his acts of 
grace ; in the other he would neither be honored 
nor loved for his goodness. We do not present this 
illustration as applicable in all its bearings, because 
we do not suppose that the un regenerate ever truly 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


227 


desire spiritual blessing till th 3y are convicted of 
sin; but it will make the point clear to the reason 
of every one, that God cannot be honored “ without 
faith ; and, therefore, without faith it is impossible 
to please Him.” 

It is necessary, according to the foregoing view 
of the subject, in order to oiFer acceptable prayer, 
that men should possess a spirit of faith and depend 
ence upon Christ. The principle upon which Christ 
acted in relation to this subject, as well as his in- 
struction concerning the duty of prayer, fully con- 
firm the preceding thoughts. He seldom performed 
an act of mercy, by miracle or otherwise, unless 
those who received the mercy could see the hand oi 
God in the blessing : — “ If thou canst believe thou 
mayest be cleansed,” was his habitual sentiment. — 
As if he had said — Your desire for the blessing is 
manifest by your urgent requests ; now, if you can 
have faith to^ee God in the blessing, so that he will 
be honored and praised for conferring it, I will grant 
it ; but if you have no faith, you can receive no 
favor. 

And, again, in order that the believer might be. 
brought into a state of dependence, and have his 
faith quickened every time that he presented his 
supplications to God, Jesus said, looking forward tc 
the time when he would have perfected his minis- 
try and atonement — “hereafter ye shall ask me 
nothing but whatsoever ye ask the Father in my 
^name”— that is, depending on me, the atoning, in- 


228 


PHILOSOtHY OF THE 


tercoding Savior — “ he will do it and in another 
place he promised, “whatsoever ye ask the Father in 
my name I will do it.” Thus does the instruction 
of the Savior, make the believer entirely dependent 
upon Himself when he approaches the mercy-seat 
of the Most High. As the Jews were constantly to 
call to mind the deliverance from Egypt, in order 
that their feelings might be moved to love, depend- 
ence and faith towards their temporal Deliverer, so 
the Christian is to call to mind the deliverance from 
spiritual bondage, by the sacrifice of Christ, in or- 
der that they may realize their dependence, and be 
inspired with a spirit of faith and love towards their 
spiritual Deliverer. And because believers can thus 
depend upon Christ, and feel the mercy of God as 
it is manifested in the atonement, they are consti- 
tuted “ priests to oifer up spiritual sacrifices, accept- 
able to God through Jesus Christ.” 

2 . — P RAISE. 

The truth which has been demonstrated in pre- 
vious chapters is again assumed, that the manifesta- 
tions of God, in Christ Jesus, would, when brought 
into efficient contact with the soul, produce that 
active holiness in the heart, which is man’s greatest 
good. And as the end to be accomplished depends, 
under God, on those truths which are developed in 
the great plan of mercy being impressed upon the 
mind and the heart, it follows that those means 
would be used, which, from their nature, are best 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


229 


adapted to give influence and impressiveness to the 
great truths of Revelation. 

The influence of music upon the emotions of the 
soul is well known to every one— 

« There is in souls a sympathy with sounds” — 

The soul is awakened, and invited by the spirit of 
the melody to receive the sentiment uttered in the 
song. Sweet, affecting music — not the tone of the 
piano, nor the peals of the organ — but a melodious 
air, sung by strong and well disciplined voices, and 
accompanied by the flute and viol— such music 
reaches the fountains of thought and feeling, and, 

« Untwisting aU the links that tie 
The hidden soul of harmony,” 

it tinges the emotions with its own hues, whether 
plaintive or joyous ; and it fosters in the heart the 
sentiment which it conveys, whether it be love of 
country, or of God — admiration of noble achieve- 
ment, or of devoted and self-sacrificing- affection. 

The power of music to fix in the memory the 
sentiment with which it is connected, and to foster 
it in the heart, has been understood in all ages of 
the world. Some of the early legislators wrote their 
laws in verse, and sung them in public places. 
And many of the earliest sketches of primitive his- 
tory are in the measures of lyric poetry. In this 
manner the memory was aided in retaining the 
facts ; the ear was invited to attend to them ; im- 
agination threw around them the drapery of beauty, 
20 


330 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


dignity, or power ; and then, music conveyed the 
sentiment, and mingled it with the emotions of the 
soul. It was in view of the power of music, when 
united with sentiment adapted to affect the heart, 
that one has said, “ Permit me to write the ballads 
of a nation, and I care not who makes her laws.” 

When the effects of music and poetry upon the 
soul are considered, we can perceive their import- 
ance as a means of fostering the Christian virtues 
in the soul of the believer. They should he used 
to convey to the mind sublime and elevating con- 
ceptions of the attributes of Jehovah — to impress 
the memory with the most affecting truths of reve- 
lation ; and especially to cherish in the heart tender 
and vivid emotions of love to Christ, in view of the 
manifestations of divine justice and mercy exhib- 
ited in his ministry, his passion, and his sacrifice.* 

There can not be found, in all the resources of 
thought, material which would furnish sentiment 
for music so subduing and overpowering, as the 
history of Redemption. There is the life of Jesus, 
a series of acts, godlike in their benevolence ; con- 
nected at times with exhibitions of divine power, 
and of human character, in their most affecting as- 
pects. And as the scenes of Christ’s eventful min- 
istry converge to the catastrophe, there is the ten- 
derness of his love for the disciples — the last supper 

• « The proper drapery for music is truth. It is its only ap- 
parel, whether as applied to God, or as used for the cultivation of 
man.” — Erasmus, 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 231 

—the scene in Gethsemane— the Mediator in the 
Hall of Judgment, exhibiting the dignity of truth 
and conscious virtue, amidst the tempest of human 
passion by which he is surrounded. Then the 
awful moral and elemental grandeur of the cruci- 
fixion — the Savior, nailed to the cross by his own 
creatures, crying “Father forgive them for they 
know not what they do” — and then, while dark- 
ness shrouds the sun, and “ nature, through all her 
works gives signs of woe,” he cries, “ it is finished ! 
and gave up the ghost.” — Thus did the dark stream 
of human depravity roll, 

« Till a rainbow broke upon its gloom, 

Which spannM the portals of the Savior’s tomb.” 

i 

Such exhibitions of sublimity and power, when 
clothed with the influence of music, and impressed 
upon a heart rendered sensitive by divine influence, 
are adapted to make the most abiding and blessed 
impressions— 

« My heart, awake ? — to feel is to be fired ; 

And to believe, Lorenzo, is to feel.” 

It follows, from the preceding views, that in se- 
lecting the means to impress the mind with religious 
truth, and the heart with pious sentiment, music and 
poetry could not be neglected. There is not in na- 
ture another means which would compensate for 
the loss of their influence. We do not mean to say 
that their influence is as great as some other means 
in impressing the truths of Revelation upon the 
soul j but their influence is peculiar and delightful, 


232 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


and without it the system of means would not be 
perfect. 

We see, therefore, the reasons why music and 
poetry were introduced as a means of impressing 
revealed truth, both under the old and the new 
dispensations. Moses not only made the laws, but 
he made, likewise, the songs of the nation. These 
songs, in some instances, all the people were re- 
quired to learn, in order that their memory might 
retain, and their heart feel, the influence of the 
events recorded in their national anthems. 

Music held a conspicuous place in the worship 
of the Temple ; and under the new dispensation, 
it is sanctioned by the express example of Jesus, and 
specifically commanded by the apostles : the exam- 
ple is given in connection with the institution of the 
eucharist, which was to commemorate the most af- 
fecting scene in the history of God’s love ; and the 
command is in such words as indicate the eflfects 
of music upon the heart : “ Speaking to yourselves 
in psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs, singing, 
and making melody in your heart to the Lord ; 
giving thanks always, for all things, unto God and 
the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 
Upon this subject, as upon some others, the apos- 
tolic churches fell into some abuses ; yet the high 
praises of God and the Lamb, have always been 
celebrated in poetry and music by the church of 
Christ. One of the first notices of the Christians 
by Pagan writers, speaks of them as “ singing a 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 233 

hymn to Christ, as to a God thus showing that the 
principles established in the preceding views were 
recognized by the early disciples, who used music 
as a means of fostering in their hearts love to the 
Savior. 

As in the case of the primitive Christians, so every 
regenerated heart delights in such spiritual songs as 
speak of Christ as an atoning Savior. And those 
only are qualified to write hymns for the church 
whose hearts are affected by the love of Jesus. On 
this account some of the hymns of Cowper, Charles 
Wesley, Watts, and Newton, will last while the 
church on earth lasts, and perhaps longer. Thou- 
sands of Christian hearts have glowed with emo- 
tion, while they sung. 

There is a fountain fill’d with blood. 

Drawn from Immanuel’s veins ; 

And sinners plunged beneath that flood 
Lose all their guilty stains. 

Or, 

Hock of Ages, cleft for me. 

Let me hide myself in Thee. 

Thousands have been awakened to duty and to 
prayer, by that solemn hymn, 

Lo, on a narrow neck of land, 

Twixt two unbounded seas I stand, 

Yet how insensible ! 

And it would not have been possible for any but a 
Christian poet to have written the lines, 

20 * 


234 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


Hcl* noblest life my spirit draws 
From His dear wounds and bleeding side. 

3. — P REACHING. 

It has been said that the truths and manifestations 
of Revelation are the elements of moral power, 
which being brought into efficient contact with the 
soul, are effective in rectifying and regulating its 
exercises. A medicine may be prepared in which 
are inherent qualities adapted to remove a particular 
disease ; but in order to the accomplishment of its 
appropriate effect, it must be brought to act upon 
the body of the patient. And if the disease has 
rendered the patient not only unconscious of his dan- 
ger, but has induced upon him a deep lethargy of 
mind, it would be necessary that the physician 
should arouse his dormant faculties, in order that he 
might receive the medicine which would restore 
him to health. So with the moral diseases of the 
soul ; the attention and sensibilities of men must 
be awakened, in order that the truth may affect 
their understanding, their conscience, and their 
heart. Whatever, therefore, is adapted to attract 
the attention and move the sensibilities at the same 
time thai it conveys truth to the mind, would be a 
means peculiarly efficient to impress the gospel upon 
the soul. 

I’here are but two avenues through which moral 
truth reaches the soul. And there are but two me- 
thods by which it can be conveyed through those 
avenues. By the living voice, truth is communi- 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


235 


cated through the ear ; and by the signs of language 
it is communicated through the eye. The first 
of these methods — the living voice — has many ad- 
vantages over all other means, in conveying and 
impressing truth. It is necessary that an individ- 
ual should read with ease in order to be benefitted 
by what he reads. The efforts which a bad reader 
has to make, both disincline him to the task of 
reading, and hinder his appreciation of truth. Be- 
sides, a large proportion of the human family can- 
not read, but all can understand their own language 
when spoken. In order, therefore, that the whole hu- 
man family might be instructed, the living speaker 
would be the first, and best, and natural method. 

The living speaker has power to arrest attention 
^to adapt his language and illustrations to the cha- 
racter and occupation of his audience ; and to ac- 
company his communications with those emotions 
and gestures, which are adapted to arouse and im- 
press his hearers. 

It is evident, from these considerations, that 
among the means which God would appoint to dis- 
seminate his truth through the world, the living 
teacher would hold a first and important place. — 
This result is in conformity with the arrangements 
of Jesus. He appointed a living ministry ; endowed 
them with the ability to speak the languages , of 
other nations ; and commissioned them to go into 
all the world, and preach the gospel to every crea- 
ture. 


236 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


In connection with this subject there is one other 
inquir/ of importance. It concerns not only the 
harmony of the gospel system with the nature of 
things, but likewise the harmony of apostolic prac- 
tice with what has been shown to be necessary in 
order that the truths of the gospel might produce 
their legitimate effect upon the mind : 

It has been demonstrated that a sense of man’s 
guilt and danger must exist in the mind, before 
there can be gratitude and love to the being who 
removes the guilt and rescues from the danger. It 
has likewise been noticed, as a self-evident princi- 
ple, that before repentance there must be conviction 
of sin. A sense of guilt and error must necessa- 
rily precede reformation of life. A man cannot con- 
scientiously turn from a course of life, and repent of 
past conduct, unless he sees and feels the error and 
the evil of that course from which he turns. To 
suppose that a man would turn from a course of life 
which he neither thought nor felt to be wrong or 
dangerous, is to suppose an absurdity ; it follows, 
therefore, that the preacher’s first duty in endeavor- 
ing to reclaim men to holiness and to God, would 
be, in all cases, to present such truths as were adapt- 
ed to convict their hearers of their spiritual guilt 
and danger. As God has constituted the mind, re- 
pentance from sin and attainment to holiness, would 
for ever be impossible on any other conditions. 

But the same truths would not convict all men 
of sin. In order to convict any particular man, or 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


237 


class of men, of sin, those facts must be fastened 
upon with which they have associated the idea of 
moral good and evil, and concern'ng which they 
are particularly guilty. Thus, in the days of the 
apostles, the Gentiles could not be convicted of sin 
for rejecting and crucifying Christ ; but, it being a 
fact in the case of the Jews, that all their ideas of 
good and evil, both temporal and spiritual, were 
associated with the Messiah, nothing in all the 
catalogue of guilt would be adapted to convict them 
of sin so powerfully, as the thought that they had 
espised and crucified the Messiah of God. 

On the other hand, the heathen, upon whom the 
charge of rejecting Christ would have no influence, 
could be convicted of sin only by showing them the 
falsehood and folly of their idolatry ; the holy char- 
acter of the true God, and the righteous and spirit- 
ual nature of the law which they were bound to 
obey, and by which they would finally be judged. 
The first preachers of the gospel, therefore, in con- 
formity with these principles, would aim first, and 
directly, to convince their hearers of their sins, and 
in accomplishing this end they would fasten upon 
those facts in which the guilt of their hearers more 
particularly consisted. And then, when men were 
thus convicted of their guilt, the salvation through 
Christ from sin and its penalty, would be pressed 
upon their anxious souls ; and they would be taught 
to exercise faith; in Jesus, as the meritorious cause 
of life, pardon, and happiness. 


238 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


Now, the apostolical histories fully confirm the 
fact, that this course— the only one consistent with 
truth, philosophy, and the nature of man — was the 
course pursued by the primitive preachers. 

The first movement after they were endowed 
with the gift of tongues, and filled with the Holy 
Ghost, was the sermon by Peter, on the day of 
Pentecost, in which he directly charged the Jews 
with the murder of the Messiah, and produced in 
thousands of minds, conviction of the most pungent 
and overwhelming description. At Athens, Paul, 
in preaching to the Gentiles, pursued a different 
course. He exposed the folly of their idolatry, by 
appealing to their reason, and their own acknow- 
ledged authorities. He spoke to them of the guilt 
which they would incur if they refused, under the 
light of the gospel, to forsake the errors, which God, 
on account of past ignorance, had overlooked. He 
then closed by turning their attention to the right- 
eous retributions of the eternal world-, and to the 
appointed day when men would be judged by Jesus 
Christ, according to his gospel. 

The manner in which the apostles presented 
Christ crucified, to the penitent and convicted sin- 
ner, as the object of faith, and the means of pardon, 
and the hope of glory, is abundantly exhibited in 
the Acts of the Apostles, and in their several epistles 
to the churches. 

Thus did God, by the appointment of the living 
preacher as a means of spreading the gospel, adapt 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


239 


Himself to the constitution of his creatures : and 
the apostles, moved by divine guidance, likewise 
adapted the truth which they preached to the pecu- 
liar necessities and circumstances of men. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


CONCERNING THE AGENCY OF GOD IN CARRYING 
ON THE WORK OF REDEMPTION, AND THE MAN 
NER IN WHICFI THAT AGENCY IS EXERTED. 

God having thus devised the plan, and manifest- 
ed the truth, and instituted the means of redemp- 
tion ; the inquiry naturally presents itself— In what 
way would he put the plan into operation, and give 
efficiency to the means of grace ? 

We cannot suppose that God would put his own 
institution beyond his power, or that he would leave 
it to be managed by the imperfect wisdom, and th 
limited power, of human instruments. God would 
not prepare the material, devise the plan, adapt the 
parts to each other, furnish the instruments for 
building, and then neglect to supervise and com- 
plete the structure. God has put none of his works 
beyond his power ; and especially in a plan of 
whi(ffi he is the author and architect, reason sug- 
gests that he would guide it to its accomplishment. 
The inquiry is — by what agency, and in what way, 
would the power of God be exerted, in carrying 
into efficient operation upon the souls of men, the 
system cf saving mercy 7 
In rel ition to the character of the agency, the 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


241 


solution is clear. The agency by which the Plan 
of Salvation would be carried forward to its ulti- 
mate consummation would be spiritual in its na 
ture : because God is a spirit, and the soul of man 
is a spirit, and the end to be accomplished is to lead 
men to worship God “ in spirit and in truth.” 

In relation to the mode of the Spirit’s operation, 
some things belong to that class of inquiries upon 
which the mind may exert its powers in vain. — 
The mode by which God communicates life to any 
thing in the vegetable, animal, or spiritual world 
lies beyond the reach of the human intellect. But 
although man cannot understand the modus oper~ 
andi of the Divine mind, in communicating life, yet 
the manifestations of life, and the medium through 
which it operates, are subjects open to human ex- 
amination. Whether the influence of the Spirit be 
directly upon the soul, or mediately by means of 
truth, the end accomplished would be the same. 
The soul might be quickened to see and feel the 
power of the truth ; or, by the Spirit, truth might 
be rendered powerful to aflect the soul. The wax 
might be softened to receive the impression, or the 
seal heated, or a power exerted upon it, to make the 
impression on the wax ; or, both might be done, 
and still the result would be the same. It is not 
only necessary that the metal should be prepared 
to receive the impression of a die, but it is likewise 
necessary that the die should be prepared and adapt- 
ed to the particular kind of metal— the image and 
21 


242 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

superscription of the king put upon it — tlic ma- 
chinery prepared and adapted to hold tlic die and 
apply it to the metal, and after all these necessary 
things are done, the coin can never be made, unless 
power is exerted to strike the die into the metal, or 
the metal into the die. So it is in the processes of 
the spiritual world ; the material [mankind] must 
be prepared. The die [the truth of the gospel sys- 
tem] must be revealed and adapted to the material ; 
and the image to be impressed upon human nature 
[The Lord Jesus Chi'ist] and the superscrij)tion, 
[glory to God and good will to men] must be cut 
upon the die. Then the means of bringing the 
truth into contact with the material must be pro- 
vided ; and after all the^e preparations and adapta- 
tions, there must be the power of the Holy Spirit to 
guide the whole process, and to form the image of 
Christ in the soul. 

The foregoing is a complicated analogy, but not 
more complicated than are the processes of .the ani 
mal and spiritual world. Look at the human body, 
with its thousands of adaptations, all of them ne- 
cessary to the system, the whole dependant upon 
the use of means for the supply of animal life ; and 
yet deriving from God its rational life, which ope- 
rates through and actuates the whole. In like 
manner the Spirit of God operates through and 
guides the processes of the Plan of Salvation. 

The scriptures reveal the truth clearly, that the 
Spirit of God gives efficiency to the means of grace. 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


243 


And not only this, but he operates in accordance 
with those necessary principles which have been 
developed in the progress of these chapters. Christ 
instructed his disciples to expect that he would 
send the Holy Spirit, and when he is come, said 
Jesus, “ He will reprove the world of sin, of right- 
eousness, and of judgment that is, the Holy Spirit 
will produce conviction of sin in the hearts of the 
unsanctified and impenitent: — the office- work of 
the Spirit of God in relation to the world, is to con- 
vince of sin. In relation to the saints, he exercises 
a different office. He is their Comforter. He takes 
of the things that belong to Jesus and shows them 
to his people.* That is, he causes the people of 
God to see more and more of the excellency, and 
the glory, and the mercy manifested in a crucified 
Savior ; and by this blessed influenca they “ grow 
in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.” 
Christ, by his ministry and death, furnished the 
facts necessary for human salvation : the Holy Spirit 
uses those facts to convict and sanctify the heart. 
Paul, in a passage already noticed, alludes to the 
influence of the Spirit operating by the appointed 
means of prayer, or devout meditation. “ But we 
all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory 
of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from 
glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the JLordP 
Further : At what juncture in the progress of the 


• John 16 : 7—14. 


244 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


great Plan of Salvation, would this agency be most 
powerfully exerted? We answer, at the time when 
the whole moral machinery of the dispensation, 
through which the effect was to be produced, was 
completed. Whatever is designed and adapted to 
produce a definite result as an instrument, must be 
completed before it is put into operation, otherwise 
it will not produce the definite effect required. An 
imperfect system put into operation would produce 
an imperfect result. Here a special effect was to be 
produced ; it was necessary, therefore, that the truth 
should be revealed, and the manifestations all made, 
before the power was imparted to give them effect. 

Under the New Dispensation, the greatest and 
most imposing manifestations wiere the death, resur- 
rection and ascension of Jesus : had the system 
been put into operation before these crowning mani- 
festations were made, the great end of the gospel 
would not have been accomplished. It follows, 
then, that the material would be first prepared, the 
manifestations made and adapted to the material, 
the appropriate means ordained, and then the agen- 
cy of the Spirit would be introduced to guide the 
dispensation to its ultimate triumphs, and to give 
efficiency to its operations. 

These deductions harmonize with the teachings 
of the Scriptures : 

First, They expressly teach, that without the 
agency of God, no perfect result is accomplished. 

Second, They every where represent that the Di- 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


245 


vine agency is exerted through the truth upon the 
soul, or exerted to awaken the soul to apprehend and 
receive the truth. 

Third, The Spirit was not fully communicated 
until the whole economy of the gospel dispensation 
was completed. The apostles were instructed to 
assemble at Jerusalem after the ascension, and wait 
till they were endued with power from on high. 
On the day of Pentecost, the promised Spirit de- 
scended. The apostles at once perceived the spirit- 
ual nature of Christ’s kingdom. They spoke in 
demonstration of the Spirit, and with power. Men 
were convicted of sin in their hearts. Sinners were 
converted to Christ, by repentance and faith. And 
under the guidance of that Divine Spirit, the Plan’ 
of Salvation moves on to its high and glorious con- 
summation, when the “ kingdoms of this world shall 
become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ.” 
“ Amen ; even so, come Lord Jesus !” 

21 * 


216 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


CHAPTER XIX. 

CONCERNING THE PRACTICAL EFFECTS OF THE 
SYSTEM. 

The evidence which the Lord Jesus Christ pro- 
posed as proof of the Divinity of the gospel system, 
was its practical effect upon individuals who receive 
and obey the truth. “ If ye do of the works, ye 
shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God.’* 
If a sick man calls a physician, who prescribes a 
certain medicine, which, by his receiving it accord- 
ing to the directions, cures him, he then knows both 
the efficacy of the medicine, and the skill of the 
physician. Experience is evidence to the saints of 
the Divinity of the system. And its effects in re- 
storing the soul to moral health is evidence to the 
world of the Divine efficacy and power of its doc- 
trines. “ By their fruits, ye shall know them.” In 
closing our volume, therefore, we have now only 
briefly to inquire what are the ascertained practical 
effects of faith in Christ ? 

We shall not refer to the moral condition of man 
in countries under the influence of the gospel, com- 
pared with his condition in Pagan lands. We will 
not dwell upon the fact which, of itself, is sufficient 
to establish at once and forever the Divine origin 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 247 

of evangelical religion, and the truth of the distinc- 
tive views developed in the preceding chapters — 
that the most holy men and women that have ever 
lived, have been those who exercised most constant 
and implicit faith in Christ. Passing these facts, 
important in themselves, we will close our volume 
by a statement of facts concerning the present in- 
fluence of faith in Christ upon individuals now liv- 
ing, and subject to the examination of any one who 
might be skeptical upon the subject. 

The following is a true statement of the influence 
of the religion of Jesus upon several individual 
members of a village church in one of the United 
States. It is composed of members of common in- 
telligence, and those in the common walks of life. 
Other churches might have been selected in which, 
perhaps, a greater number of interesting cases might 
have been found. And there are other individuals 
in this church that would furnish as good an illus- 
tration of the power of the gospel as some of those 
which are noticed below. This church has been 
selected, because the writer had a better opportunity 
of visiting it in order to obtain the facts, than any 
other in which he knew the power of the religion 
of Christ was experienced. 

With the individ uals spoken of I am well ac- 
quainted, having frequently conversed with them 
all, on the subjects of which I shall speak. Their 
words in all cases may not have been remembered, 
but the sense is truly given. 


248 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

CASE 1. — An old man, who has been a professor 
of religion from early life. He was once a deacon 
or elder of the church. Twenty years ago he was 
struck with paralysis, by which he has been ever 
since confined almost entirely to his room. His sit- 
uation is one that, to a mind which had no inward 
consolation, would be irksome in the extreme. His 
books are the bible and one or two volumes of the 
old divines. He is patient and happy ; and speak- 
ing of the love of Christ almost invariably sufi’uses 
his eyes with tears. He delights to dwell on re- 
ligious subjects ; and to talk with a pious friend of 
the topics which his heart loves, gives him evident 
delight. Recently, his aged companion, who had 
trodden the path of life with him, from youth to 
old age, died in his presence. She died, what is 
called by Christians, a triumphant death : her last 
words were addressed to her children who stood 
around — “ I see the cross” — a gleam of pleasure 
passed over her features, her eyes lighted up with 
peculiar brightness, she said, “ Blessed Jesus, the 
last hour is come : I am ready !” and thus she de- 
parted. At her death the old man wept freely and 
wept aloud ; but his sorrow, he said, was mingled 
with a sweet joy. How desolate would have been 
the condition of this poor cripple for the last twenty 
years without the consolations of faith in Christ. 
And when his aged companion died, who had for 
years sat by his side, how appalling would have 
oeen the gloom that would have settled upon his 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 5^49 

soul, had not his mind been sustained by heavenly 
hope. His case shows that the religion of Christ 
will keep the affections warm and tender even to 
the latest periods of old age, and give happiness to 
the soul under circumstances of the most severe 
temporal bereavement. 

CASE 2. — A converted Atheist. I knew that 
there were those in the world who professed to 
doubt the existence of a God ; but I had met with 
no one in all my intercourse with mankind, who 
seemed so sincerely and so entirely an atheist, as 
the individual whose case is now introduced. The 
first time that I met him was at the house of his 
son-in-law, a gentleman of piety and intelligence. 
His appearance was that of a decrepit, disconsolate 
old man. In the course of conversation he unhesi- 
tatingly expressed his unbelief of the existence of 
a God, and his suspicion of the motives of most of 
those who professed religion. I learned from others 
that he had ceased in some measure to have inter- 
course with men — had become misanthropic in his 
feelings, regarding mankind in the light of a family 
of sharks, preying upon each other ; and his own 
duty in such a state of things, he supposed to be, to 
make all honest endeavors to wrest from the grasp 
of others as much as he could. He used profane 
language, opposed the temperance reformation, and 
looked with the deepest hatred upon the ministers 
of religion. His social affections seemed to be 


250 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


withered, and his body, sympathizing, was distorted 
and diseased by rheumatic pains. 

1. This old man had for years been the subject of 
special prayer on the part of his pious daughter and 
his son-in-law; and he was finally persuaded by 
them to attend a season of religious worship in the 
church of which they were members. During these 
services, which lasted several days, he passed from 
a state of atheism to a state of faith. The change 
seemed to surprise every one, and himself as much 
as any other. From being an atheist, he became 
the most simple and implicit believer. He seemed 
like a being who had waked up in another world the 
sensations of which were all new to him ; and al- 
though a man of sound sense in business affairs, 
when he began to express his religious ideas, his 
language seemed strange and incongruous, from 
the fact that while his soul was now filled with new 
thoughts and feelings, he had no knowledge of the 
language by which such thoughts are usually ex- 
pressed. The effects produced by his conversion, 
were as follows — stated at one time to myself, and 
upon another occasion to one of the most eminent 
medical practitioners in this country One of the 
first things which he did after his conversion, was 
to love, in a practical manner, his worst enemy. 
There was one man in the village, who had, as he 
supposed, dealt treacherously with him, in some 
money transactions which had occurred between 
ffiem. On this account, personal enmity had long 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


251 


existai between the two individuals. When con 
verted, he sought his old enemy — asked his forgive 
ness ; and endeavored to benefit him by bringing 
him under the influence of the gospel. 

2. His benevolent feelings were awakened and 
expanded. His first benevolent offering was twen- 
ty-five cents, in a collection for charitable uses. He 
now gives very liberally, in proportion to his means, 
to all objects which he thinks will advance the in* 
terests of the gospel of Christ. Besides supporting 
his own church, and her benevolent institutions, no 
enterprise of any denomination which he really be- 
lieves will do good, fails to receive something from 
him, if he has the means. During the last year he 
has given more with the design of benefitting his 
fellow men than he had done in his whole life time 
before. 

3. His affections have received new life. He said 
to me, in conversation upon the subject : “ One part 
of the scriptures I feel to be true — that which says, 
I will take away the hard and stony heart, and give 
you a heart of flesh. Once I seemed to have no 
feeling ; now, thank God, I can feel. I have buried 
two wives and six children, but I never shed a tear 

-I felt hard and unhappy— now my tears flow at 
the recollection of these things.” The tears at that 
time wet the old man’s cheeks. It is not probable, 
that since his conversion, there has been a single 
week that he has not shed tears ; before conversion 
he had not wept since the age of manhood. An ex 


252 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

hibition of the love of of Christ will, at any time, 
move his feelings with gratitude and love, until the 
tears moisten his eyes. 

4. Effect upon his life. Since his conversion he 
has not ceased to do good as he has had opportunity. 
Several individuals have been led to repent and be- 
lieve in Christ through his instrumentality. Some 
of these were individuals whose former habits ren- 
dered a change of character very improbable in the 
eyes of most individuals. (One of them, who had 
fallen into the habit of intemperance, is now a re- 
spectable and happy father of a respectable Christian 
family.) He has been known to go to several fami- 
lies on the same day, pray with them, and invite 
them to attend religious worship on the Sabbath. 
And when some difficulty was stated as a hindrance 
to their attendance, he has assisted them to buy 
shoes, and granted other little aids of the kind, in 
order that they might be induced to attend Divine 
service. [Since the first edition was issued, a most 
remarkable fact concerning this old man has come 
to the knowledge of the author. When converted, 
one of his first acts, although he had heard nothing 
of any such act in others, was to make out a list .of 
all his old associates then living within reach of his 
influence. For the conversion of these he deter- 
mined to labor as he had opportunity, and pray 
daily. On his list were one hundred and sixteen 
names, among whom were skeptics, drunkaris, and 
other individuals as little likely to be reached by 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


253 


Christian influence as any other men in the region. 
Within two years from the period of the old mams 
conversion, one hundred of these individuals had 
made a profession of religion. We can hardly sup- 
pose that the old man was instrumental in the con- 
version of all these persons ; yet the fact is one of 
the most remarkable that has been developed in the 
progress of Christianity.] 

3. Effect upon his happiness. In a social meet- 
ing of the church where he worships, I heard him 
make such an expression as this — “I have rejoiced 
but once since I trusted in Christ — that has been 
all the time.” His state of mind may be best de- 
scribed in his own characteristic language. One 
day he was repairing his fence. An individual 

passing addressed him — “ Mr. , you are at work 

all alone.” “ Not alone,” said the old man, “ God 
is with me.” He said that his work seemed easy 
to him, and his peace of mind continued with 
scarcely an interruption. I saw him at a time 
when he had just received intelligence that a son, 
who had gone to the south, had been shot in a per- 
sonal altercation, in one of the southern cities. 
The old man’s parental feelings were moved, but 
he seemed even under this sudden and most dis- 
tressing affliction to derive strong consolation from 
trust in God. 

6. Physical effects of the moral change. As soon 
as his moral nature had undergone a change, his 
body, by sympathy, felt the benign influence. His 
22 


254 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


countenance assumed a milder and more intelligent 
aspect. He became more tidy in his apparel, and 
his ‘ thousand pains,’ in a good measure, left him. 
In his c^e, there seemed to be a renovation both of 
soul and body. 

This case is not exaggerated : the old man is 
living, and there are a thousand living witnesses 
to this testimony, among whom is an intelligent 
physician, who, hearing the old man’s history of his 
feelings, and having known him personally for 
years, the obvious effects Which the faith in Christ 
had produced in this case, combined with other in- 
fluences by which he was surrounded, led him seri- 
ously to examine the subject of religion, as it con- 
cerned his own spiritual interest. By this exami- 
nation he was led to relinquish the system of ‘ ra- 
tional religion,’ (as the Socinian system is most in- 
appropriately called by its adherents,) and profess 
his faith in orthodox religion. 

CASE 3. — Two individuals who have always 
been poor in this world’s goods : but who are rich 
in faith. Many years ago they lived in a new set- 
tlement where there were no religious services. 
The neighborhood, at the suggestion of one of its 
members, met together on the Sabbath, to sing 
sacred music and to hear a sermon read. Those 
sermons were the means of the conversion of the 
mother of the family. She lived an exemplary life, 
but her husband still continued impenitent, and be- 
came somewhat addicted to intemperance. Some 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 255 

of the children of the family, as they reached ma- 
ture years, were converted ; the husband, and final- 
ly after a few years, all the remaining children, em- 
braced religion. From the day of the husband’s 
conversion, he drank no more liquor, and, he says^ 
he always afterwards thought of the habit with ab- 
horrence. The old people live alone. The old 
woman’s sense of hearing has so failed that she 
hears but imperfectly. When the weather will al- 
low, she attends church regularly, but sometimes 
hears but little of the sermon. She sits on the Sab- 
bath and looks up at the minister, with ’a counte- 
nance glowing with an interested and happy ex- 
pression. She has joy to know that the minister is 
preaching about Christ. The minister once de- 
scribed religion possessed, as a spring of living wa- 
ter, flowing from the rock by the way-side, which 
yields to the weary traveller refreshment and de- 
light ; the old lady, at the close, remarked, with 
meekness, “ I hope I have drank, many times, of 
those sweet waters. 

Except what concerns their particular domestic 
duties, the conversation of this aged pair is almost 
entirely religious. They are devout, and very hap- 
py in each other’s society. And sometimes in their 
family devotions and religious conversations, their 
hearts glow with love to God. They look forward 
to death with the consoling hope that they will 
awake in the likeness of the glorious Savior, and so 
“ be forever with the Lord. ’ 


256 


PHILOSOPHY OP THE 


CASE 4. — A female who early in life unitea 
with the church, and conscientiously performed the 
external duties of Christian life. She had, for many 
years, little if any happiness in the performance of 
her religious duties, yet would have been more un- 
happy if she had not performed them. She mar- 
ried a gentleman, who during the last years of his 
life was peculiarly devoted. During this period, 
in attending upon the means. of grace, she expe- 
rienced an entire change in her religious feelings. 
She felt, as she says, that “ now she gave up all for 
Christ. She felt averse to every thing which she 
believed to be contrary to his will. — To the will of 
Jesus she could now submit for ever, with joyful 
and entire confidence. — She now loved to pray, and 
found happiness in obeying the Savior.” She made, 
as she believes, at that time, an entire surrender of 
all her interests, for time and eternity, to Christ, and 
since then her labors in his service have been hap- 
py labors. Before they were constrained by con- 
science, now they are prompted by the affections. 
She does not think she was not a Christian before. 
She had repented in view of the law, but she had 
not, till the time mentioned, exercised affectionate 
faith in Christ.* She now often prays most solicit- 
ously for the conversion of sinners and the sar.ctifi- 


• Are there not many in all the churches who have been con- 
victed of sin, and who have perhaps repented, but have not ex- 
ercised full faith in Christ ? 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 257 

cation of the church. She loves to meet weekly in 
the female circle for prayer, and labors to induce 
others to attend with her. Her little son, nine years 
of age, is, as she hopes, a Christian ; and her daugh- 
ter, just approaching the years of womanhood, has 
recently united with the church. Two years since 
her husband died under circumstances peculiarly 
afflicting. She prayed for resignation, and never 
felt any disposition to murmur against the provi- 
dence of God. She sometimes blamed herself that 
she had not thought of other expedients to prolong, 
if possible, the life of one that she loved so tenderly ; 
but to God she looked up with submission, and said 
in spirit, “ the cup that my father hath mingled for 
me, shall I not drink it Her husband she views 
as a departed saint, whom she expects to meet in a 
better world. She cherishes his memory with an 
affection that seems peculiarly sacred ; and the re 
membrance of his piety is a consoling association 
connected with the recollections of one now in 
heaven.* 

A single incident developes the secret of that pi 
ety which gives her peace, and makes her useful.— 
One of the last times that I saw her, she stated, in 

• That the marriage bond becomes more sacred, and the recip 
rocal duties of affection more tender, between two hearts that 
both love Jesus, I have no doubt. The feelings of this pious 
widow favor the supposition, and the facts recorded in the biog- 
raphies of Edwards Fletcher and Corvosso, fully confirm it. 

22 * 


258 


PHILOSOPHHY OF THE 


conversation upon the subject, that a short time be- 
fore, she had read a Sabbath school book, which one 
of her children had received, in which was a repre- 
sentation of Christ bearing his cross to Calvary. 
While contemplating this scene, love and gratitude 
sprang up in her heart, which were subduing, sweet, 
and peaceful beyond expression ! How is it reader, 
that the contemplation of such a scene of suffering 
should cause such blessed emotions to spread like a 
rich fragrance through the soul, and rise in sweet in- 
cense to God ? It is the holy secret of the cross of 
of Christ ! which none but the saints know, and 
even they cannot communicate ! * 

* Thomas a Kempis endeavored to give expression to the con- 
sciousness of the divine life in the soul — « Frequens Christ! visi- 
tatio cum homine interno, dulcis, sermocinatio, grata consolatio, 
multa pax,’' &c 


PLAN OP SALVATION. 


259 


SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 


AN OBJECTIVE REVELATION NECESSARY, AS A MEANS 
OF THE MORAL CULTURE OF MANKIND. 

Since the first publication of this volume, the 
question between those who receive the Christian 
Scriptures as an Authoritative Divine Revelation, 
and those who do not, has somewhat varied its 
form. The discussion for the past few years, both 
in Europe and America, has been mainly between 
those who believe in the Divine Authority of the 
Christian Revelation, as a rule of duty, and those 
who believe in the authority of Conscience and 
Reason, as the highest guides of man. Neither 
class altogether rejects the Scriptures, but one 
receives the Messiah and his teachings as of God — 
the other receives them as of man. 

The arguments by which the inspiration of the 
sacred Scriptures are usually maintained are well 
known; and but little can be added to them in 
their common forms. There is, however, another 
view which may be taken of the subject — a view 
which considers a written Revelation in the light 
of the moral wants of man, and as an adapted and 
necessary means in order to human development. 


260 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

Such a train of thought would correspond with the 
tenor of the argument in the preceding chapters, 
and would meet, directly, the position of the tran- 
scendental school — that all the moral light which 
God gives to man is revealed subjectively in the 
human consciousness, or derived by the unaided 
reason. 

If it can be shown that the moral constitution of 
man demands a revelation ab extra — from with- 
out — as its complement, and that the Christian 
Revelation is the adequate and adapted means by 
which the moral development of man as a being, 
and of men as a family, must be secured ; if 
these positions can be established, they will place 
the Bible upon the basis of moral necessity ; be- 
cause the moral constitution of man implies, in 
order to its development, a written Revelation, 

We propose^ then, for ourselves and our read- 
ers, this inquiry : Is man so constituted by his 
Creator, that a Revelation of objective truth (i. e., 
truth revealed to him, not in him) is demanded, in 
order to the right and full developinent of his 
moral faculties ? 

In the first chapters of this volume the fact that 
man is, by nature, a religious being, is stated and 
proved ; and in succeeding chapters the adaptation 
of some of the processes by which truth is revealed 
in the Scriptures is discussed. We propose now to 
direct our attention to the single inquiry. Whether 
a Written Revelation be a demand of man’s moral 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 261 

constitution, without which his moral culture is 
impossible. 

There is a first fact connected with this in- 
quiry which might be assumed; but it will be 
more satisfactory to exhibit its ground and its 
relations to our discussion. 

Man is a cultivating and a cultivable being. 

Culture improves nature. There is a certain 
degree of perfection attained, or attainable, by the 
species of the vegetable and animal kingdoms, 
which nature of herself produces. Unusual cir- 
cumstances may produce choice individuals, which 
are in advance of the natural average ; but in suc- 
ceeding generations, without culture, these will 
return again to the natural level. 

No species of things can improve itself. Cul- 
ture must in all cases come from man. By his 
agency individuals of the vegetable and animal 
kingdoms may be advanced far beyond what is 
possible for them in their natural state. Most 
species of fruits are “ flat, stale, and unprofitable 
by nature, and would always have continued so, 
unless they had received the aid of human culture. 
So the domestic animals are moulded to beauty 
and utility only by human culture. 

All things below man that have valuable quali- 
ties are created capable of culture ; but the culture 
must come, in all cases, from a nature higher than 
their own. Man is the lord of the lower creation. 
He advances and improves such species as are 


262 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

profitable for his use, and destroys others. Man is 
the only cultivator, and for his use and benefit 
nature is made capable of improvement. 

But let us mark especially the correlated fact 
with which we have especially to do in this dis- 
cussion. 

Man is not only a cultivating, but he is a culti- 
vable being. Like the other animal species, there 
is a certain natural level above which he cannot 
rise without aid from a Being higher than himself. 
(See Chap. I.) This is true of him especially as 
a moral being. In intellectual attainment, and 
in the perception of moral principles, individuals 
among men have achieved a high position with- 
out, as some have supposed, aid from an external 
revelation. We wilt concede, if it be desired, 
that some of the moral precepts of Confucius, Soc- 
rates, and Seneca are similar to those of the New 
Testament. Whatever may be conceded on this 
point, the fact is historically demonstrated, and, as 
we think, philosophically demonstrated, (see God 
Revealed in the Process of Creation, &c.. Book II.) 
— that without aid from above himself, man does 
not attain to a knowledge of the character of God as 
his Father, nor to a knowledge of self-denying duty 
due to all men as his brethren. In this respect 
man is not an exception to the law, that no species 
can raise itself above its natural condition. The 
Greeks and Romans had many excellent moral 
precepts ; but in the knowledge of God and of self- 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


263 


denial for the good of men, they were never in 
advance of those whom they designated as bar- 
barians. A knowledge of the true character of 
God, and of benevolent labor for men as brothers, 
is absolutely, essential, as we shall see, to human 
culture and human progress ; but all human history 
and human experience testify that man unaided 
can no more attain to this knowledge than an ani- 
mal can subdue and discipline itself for domestic 
uses. 

Leaving the preceding observations for the con- 
sideration of the reader, we assume again the fact, 
which will be granted even by those who may 
doubt in relation to some of the preceding state- 
ments — God has created man a cultivating and 
a cultivable beings and he is the only being created 
that possesses the double capability to receive and 
to impart culture. By his ability as a cultivator, 
he may elevate others up to the level of his own 
attainment, and by his capacity for culture, the 
cultivator may himself be cultivated by a superior 
being. 

We inquire, then, for the necessary and adapted 
means, in order to the full development of man’s 
moral faculties. 

We will notice three endowments by which me;i 
are particularly distinguished from irrational beings. 
The union of the three is requisite in producing 
human development ; but the effect of the whole 
will be perceived more distinctly by first noticing 


264 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


them separately. These distinguishing endow- 
ments are Written Language^ Faith, and Con- 
science. 

A sign-language is characteristic of man. Al- 
though it may not be manifest at the lowest stages 
of social condition, it is always necessary as the 
basis of social progress. Beasts make, to a con- 
siderable extent, sounds and gestures which are 
intelligible to each other ; but they cannot impress 
upon matter a permanent sign of their thought. 
This is an endowment possessed by humanity 
alone. 

It is not necessary to our argument to discuss 
the forms of the primitive sign-languages, or 
whether there were an original language which 
was the basis of all others.* Whether the process 
be by one method or another, every settled nation, 
with whose history we are acquainted, formed or 
possessed a sign-language. As nations advance in 
age, language improves, and the people improve 
intellectually with the language. Colonies carry the 
parent language into new regions of the world. In 
the lapse of time, by the intermingling of peoples, 
old forms and sounds are modified — some words 

* If the present languages of the world be derived from a com- 
mon origin, (which neither reason nor Scripture requires us to 
suppose,) the various streams must run back to the parent source 
before the two distinct forms of alphabetic and syllabic writing 
were originated. The rudimental structure of the alphabetic and 
syllabic languages are so diverse, that they could in no way have 
been derived the one from the other. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 265 

are lost and new ones are admitted; but the attri- 
bute of a sign-making and sign-reading being is 
characteristic of man in all ages, after he leaves 
the lowest stages of barbarism. 

The fact is fairly settled, that without aiding 
himself by a written language, man cannot ascend 
even to the first stages of civilization. But when 
time and settled condition will allow, he makes for 
himself signs of thought; and although the methods 
may vary, the result is the same : the signs writ- 
ten by the hand of one communicate his thoughts 
through the eye to the minds of others. 

After the language of any people has taken its 
form, the degree of civilization attained at any 
time can be ascertained, with perfect accuracy, by 
the copiousness of their vocabulary and the shades 
of discrimination in their definitions. In their 
written language they accumulate the history, 
science, and sentiments of the past, and add to 
these the achievements and experiences of the 
present. Their words, with fixed definitions, are 
susceptible of authentication as media of com- 
mercial and civil transactions ; and, as these are 
conditions of civilization, nothing can be more ap- 
parent than the statement that without a written 
language civilization is impossible: and if civili- 
zation is impossible without a written language, 
we cannot suppose that high moral culture can 
be attained without an aid which is necessary to 
the lowest stages of social progress. 

23 


266 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


As certainly, therefore, as man is constituted to 
ascend from lower to higher stages of progress, 
written language is designed as the medium of his 
social and moral culture ; but as neither God nor 
man, so far as we can see, can use signs in any 
other way than as objective to the mind itself, 
hence, if man receives moral culture at all, it must 
be by fixed signs of thought, presented objectively 
to the human soul. Signs are the creations of the 
human mind in which man embodies his logos ; 
they are the medium by which the thought of one 
is conveyed to others ; and hence they must be the 
adapted and only means of moral culture, when man 
is to act as an instrument in elevating his race. 

Written language connects man with the past 
and the future. In it he must store all he holds 
valuable or sacred in knowledge. Without it he 
would be an undeveloped moral being — an infant 
in knowledge, while old in years and in crime ; a 
being without science, living mostly in the pres- 
ent ; haunted by demons of the imagination, and 
a prey to human tyrants, as ignorant but more 
powerful than himself. 

But suppose it be granted that without written 
language man cannot receive moral culture; yet, 
are not the signs of that language, and the ideas 
that they contain, originated by man ? And hence 
while a written language in order to moral culture 
may be admitted, a revelation of truth other than 
that originated by man may be denied. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


267 


It will be seen when we come to consider the 
subject of faith, that in order that truth may affect 
the moral character of man, and exert upon him an 
elevating and purifying influence, he must receive 
it as coming from God, the Lawgiver and Judge 
of men. But apart from this consideration, which 
is a vital one in its relation to the subject of moral 
culture, there are plain evidences which prove that 
man cannot of himself attain to the true idea of the 
Divine character ; and hence, if God be ever truly 
known to men, he must reveal himself in such forms 
and by such signs as will communicate a true 
knowledge of his character to the human mind. 

We are aware that there are those who believe 
and teach that the character of God, as well as the 
being- of a God, is revealed subjectively in men : we 
will notice the superficial and injurious character 
of this philosophy in another place; but here we 
affirm that all history, and the common experience 
and reason of men, prove the fallacy of such an 
opinion. A sense, or intuition, or conception (call 
it what you will) of the existence of a God, is 
found in all ages, existing in all races of men. It 
is a universal conviction, and belongs to man as 
man. But no two men have precisely the same 
idea of God's character. The diversity in one case 
is as perfect as the unity of the other. Without a 
revelation men believe that there is a God; but 
their views of the divine character are as diverse as 
their languages, and have never risen above the 


268 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


level of heroism, naturalism, and lust, in connection 
with the natural attributes of wisdom and power. 
The idea of the existence of God is the idea of 
being. The idea of character implies quality ; to 
suppose that man has intuitive ideas of either the 
physical or spiritual qualities of things is absurd. 

Again, every man is conscious that he has not 
himself got an intuitive idea of the character of 
God. Every man believes that God is ; but what 
he is, is with every man matter of reflection, or of 
faith. The conscious experience of every man is 
testimony in this case. 

It is a fact admitted almost universally, that the 
present state of the creation, both moral and phys- 
ical, is imperfect. Allowing, then, (if it be desired,) 
that man has an intuitive idea that a Divine Being, 
or Beings, exist — how could he get the concep- 
tion of a perfect character from an imperfect world ? 
If man forms a conception of God’s character 
without revelation, in the present state of things, 
he must necessarily form a wrong one. Man is 
imperfect, and nature is imperfect, and therefore 
there is no archetype from which a true sign of the 
Divine character can be drawn. Hence the his- 
tories of man’s theologies, in all ages, are histories 
of errors. 

Now, it is a fact which is marked and peculiar, 
that the character of God revealed in the Old Tes- 
tament is revealed in accordance with the laws by 
which signs are made to communicate first ideas, 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 269 

and in accordance with the nature of man as a 
sign-reading being. We have shown in Chapters 
VII. and VIII. that the word Jehovah, signify- 
ing merely divine being — without character^ was 
clothed with attributes by a process of signs or 
hieroglyphics which formed the true character of 
God in the Jewish mind, so far as that character 
was known under the introductory dispensation. 
Moses was a sign-maker. His dispensation was one 
of types. From the processes and hieroglyphics of 
his dispensation the ideas of heavenly things were 
produced. This is expressly affirmed in the New 
Testament, as it is likewise in the Old.* 

Under the New Testament Dispensation we 
have a manifestation of duty^ in the life of Christy 
and of love in his self-sacrifice, which have given 
new ideas to the human mind. These are ren- 
dered permanent in the written language of the 
New Testament. In Christ’s death “ was the love 
of God manifested” — and man could never have 
had the idea but by the cross of Christ. The cross 
of Christ is the sign of Divine love for men. The 
life of Christ is the sign of human duty. These 
manifestations are objective to the soul. These 
ideas, embodied in sign-language, are the material 

* Ex. 25 : 40. “ Make them after the pattern that was showed 
thee in the mount.” And Acts 7 : 44. 

Heb. 9 : 23. The Mosaic ceremonies generally are declared to ba 
“ patterns ” — pictures — hieroglyphics — “ of things in the heav- 
ens.” 


23 


270 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


of the highest moral culture. But in order to 
elevate and purify the soul, they must become suh^ 
jective in the heart, and authoritative with the 
conscience and the will. 

This brings us to the connected subject of faith^ 
by which objective Divine Truth becomes subjec- 
tive in the soul. 

Faith, or Credence, like sign-language, distin- 
guishes between man and irrational beings. (The 
word Credence may be more appropriate as a gen- 
eral term, while we apply the word Faith in a 
moral sense.) Animals receive knowledge by sen- 
sation only; man receives knowledge by sense and 
by credence. Almost the whole of man’s acquired 
knowledge he obtains by crediting the testimony 
of others. 

In relation to God, and the objects of the spirit- 
ual world, faith is the only exercise by which we 
can know them. These are not cognizable by the 
senses. The being of God may be admitted intu- 
itively, but the character of God can be known 
only by faith ; and it is the character of God, not 
THE BEING OF Gou, that is the element of moral 
culture. In order to the moral effect of the Divine 
character upon the soul, we “ must believe not only 
that God is, but that he is a rewarder of those who 
diligently seek himP 

God has so made man that his moral nature is 
moved and his moral character controlled by faith. 
If he believes (whether falsely or not) that his 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


271 


neighbor is a bad man, he will feel towards him as 
if it were so. If he believes with an assured faith 
certain things in relation to God and duty, he will 
feel and act as he believes. If a man has faith in 
truth, he will have a true conscience ; but in so fai 
as his faith is false, his conscience will be false; 
and in relation to duties due to God, if a man has 
no faith at all, he will have no conscience at all. 
A man without faith is influenced no more in his 
character or conduct by the existence and character 
of God than if there were no God. In the light of 
such truth, which cannot be controverted, every 
sound mind ought to see that transcendentalism is 
a moral lie, 

God has made the soul of man to recognize him 
as sovereign, and his will as obligatory. The ani- 
mal mind reaches up to man, and knows no higher 
lord. The mind of man by faith reaches up to the 
Supreme Being, and recognizes duty and obligation 
to him. Thus man by faith and conscience be- 
comes responsible as a subject of the divine gov- 
ernment, and is thus separated from all inferior 
things. 

Sign-langttage and Faith are correlated in the 
moral tuition of man. All human progress depends 
upon faith exercised in testimony, fixed by the 
settled import of written language. Without cre- 
dence vocal language might exist, and men might 
communicate to each other their experiences and 
observations; but credence alone, in connection 


272 


PHILOSOPHYOF THE 


with fixed signs of thought, raises man to the con- 
templation of the 'past — the future — the spiritual 
and the Divine. 

But all the objects upon which moral culture 
depends are without the soul. They are not sub- 
jective, but objective. Say, if you will, that the idea 
of a God is an intuition ; but what God is has been 
matter of credence in all time and with' all men. 
It is unnatural, it is impossible, for man to look 
into himself for objects of credence. The idea is a 
preposterous one. Man is created a believing be- 
ing, and Faith looks out of self for its objects, as 
naturally as the eye looks out of self to the phe- 
nomena of the world of sense. 

But in order that the objects of Faith may have 
subjective efficiency over the affections, the will, 
and the conscience, man must recognize not only 
the rectitude but the authority of the truth presented 
for credence. This brings us to consider, in con- 
nection with Faith, the office of Conscience, with- 
out the rectitude and efficiency of which there can 
be no moral culture. 

There are two elements in efficient faith; one 
the form of the fact — the other the authority of the 
fact. The fact, in order to be efficient within men, 
must be perceived not only as truths but as author- 
itative truth; that is, perceived as proceeding from 
a being whose character we love, and whose au- 
thority to command we recognize. The perception 
of truth does not impart the moral power or the 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


273 


moral disposition to obey the truth. No man in his 
senses will say that the man who perceives truth 
obtains thereby a disposition to obey it. Truth 
has little efficiency for moral culture unless it be 
recognized by faith, as grounded in the character 
and communicated to man by the will of God. 
Whatever is believed by the soul to be the will of 
the Divine Lawgiver revealed for man, that con- 
science will enforce upon the life. 

Socrates, Plato, and Seneca uttered much valu- 
able truth ; and truth that was recognized among 
the people as coming from the highest human 
sources. But what cared men for the utterances 
of philosophers ? Whose conscience troubles him 
in our day for not obeying the maxims of the 
author of Lacon, or the precepts of living or dead 
moralists ? Men are equals ; and truth from merely 
human sources can rise no higher than the opinions 
of equals. It may be — it generally is — believed as 
truth ; but it can have no moral sanction as obli- 
gatory upon the life, and therefore can have little 
influence upon the soul as an element of moral 
culture. 

The greatest difficulty with men is not that they 
do not perceive truth. Men perceive much moral 
truth by the force of their own reason ; and they 
assent to much more that is perceived by others. 
Colton wrote more moral maxims than any man 
of his age, and violated them all. Instead of the 
perception of truth being moral culture in his case, 


274 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


it was, as in many other cases, only a light that 
revealed a deeper debasement. A revelation of 
truth concerning God and human duty is necessary ; 
but power or disposition to obey the truth is the 
greater want — is an absolute necessity — in order 
to the moral culture of the soul. A perception of 
truth without love and obedience is demoralizing. 
A perception of truth which moves the heart and 
the will is the process of moral culture. 

Both experience and revelation agree in the 
things which have been said. The teachings of 
the Messiah himself had no reformatory or sancti- 
fying power, until men believed that they were 
sanctioned by the Godhead. This Jesus frequently 
affirmed. The disciples were taught to expect 
that when the resurrection and the advent of the 
Comforter should have attested the divinity of his 
mission^ then men would be “persuaded of sin^ 
righteousness^ diod judgment that is, when they 
saw God in the truth which he taught, they would 
feel that it was sin to disobey. The words which 
he had spoken unto them would become spirit and 
life to their souls, when they were received as the 
yjord of God, 

Now, let us condense and remember the facts 
which we have considered. The character of Con- 
science in all religious duties depends upon Faith. 
Without faith it has no life — with a false faith it 
is corrupted, and therefore a curse — with a true 
faith it is living and pure. Conscience in itself is 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


275 


a most potent power, but it is a blind power. It 
enforces the conduct dictated by a man’s faith, 
whatever that may he. But its power for good or 
evil comes only with a sense of the authority of 
God, It will enforce no duty, nor produce remorse 
for any neglect of duty in regard to God, unless 
faith affirms the act to be sanctioned by the will 
and authority of God. A sense of right exists in 
most minds and consciences — so enjoins a right 
practice towards men — until the mind becomes 
darkened by a false credence or a wrong practice. 
But where no faith exists, conscience never enforces 
a wrong towards man as a sin against God. And 
even in relation to the duties in life which we learn 
by experience, the conviction of right is often very 
inefficient; and in relation to the highest social 
duties, a false credence often makes wrong to be a 
duty or a privilege. 

In relation to God, therefore, and religious duty, 
faith is the only guide of conscience ; and in rela- 
tion to the practice of right towards men, and more 
especially the maintenance of right social princi- 
ples, man is a weak and wandering spirit; and 
when his conscience dies or is perverted by a false 
credence or a wrong practice, he has hope of rescue 
and purity only in a revelation which faith may 
receive as the will of God, anti which conscience 
will then enforce as duty ; the violation of which 
is sin.* 

^ A fact of importance in this connection it may be profitable to 


276 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


From the preceding considerations we might at 
once deduce a conclusion in favor of an objective 
revelation, as a necessary requisite in order to 
human culture. But this conclusion would be a 
general one, and many who would assent to the 
general conclusion might not agree that the New 
Testament is the only perfect and the ultimate 
revelation of Divine Truth. 

Before, therefore, we endeavor to show the adapt- 
edness of the Christian Scriptures as the only sys- 
tern of Truths by which man’s moral nature can 
be rightly and fully developed, let us notice, in 
connection, some of the views by which we have 

notice — a fact both in revelation and in human experience. It is 
not a link in the argument, but it may aid our conviction of the 
vital importance of the subject. It shows, likewise, the relation of 
this subject of Divine Culture to the fact stated in an introductory 
paragraph, that culture of one being must come from another supe- 
rior to itself. Thus man cultivates nature and God cultivates 
man. 

It is a law of man’s nature, that when the truth is perceived in the 
mind and its obligation acknowledged, if obedience be not yielded, 
the conscience grows less potential to enforce the duty. It is a 
retributive principle incorporated into man’s moral constitution, that 
sin being persisted in against light and obligation, the light becomes 
darkness in the mind, and the sense of obligation dies in the soul. 
This is a natural law. But a sense of God’s special presence re- 
verses this law. The influence of the Holy Spirit awakens again 
the dying conscience, and illumines again the darkening mind. The 
evil of sin is again seen and* felt. The dead conscience is awakened 
by the presence of God, and the. soul that was sinking under the 
moral paralysis of sin is offered rescue and called to heaven. 

Reader, this is your hope — the miraculous interposition of the 
Divine Spirit. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


277 


argued the necessity of an objective revealment of 
Divine Truth, in opposition to the false notion that 
a knowledge of the Divine character and of human 
duty are revealed subjectively in the soul. 

Man is created conscious of imperfection and 
capable of culture. 

Man can receive moral culture only by the aid 
of signs of moral truth embodied in written lan- 
guage. 

Man may have by nature an intuition of the 
Being of God, but he has no knowledge of the 
character of God; but that character has been 
revealed in accordance with the process of linguis- 
tic development, and in adaptation to man’s nature 
and wants, in the Old and New Testaments. 

Man is a being of Faith, and can be affected by 
the character and will of God only by the exercise 
of faith. Faith naturally looks out of self for its 
objects. The past — the future — God and the 
spiritual world are without the soul, as revealed 
by faith. 

Man is a being of Conscience ; but the character 
of conscience is determined by faith. Unless faith 
sees God in truth, conscience will not enforce it 
on the soul. But it will enforce whatever faith 
dictates as the character and will of God, whether 
right or wrong. 

Faith is in itself blind. It does not know truth 
from error ; and reason has never had power with- 
out revelation to correct its false affirmations. The 
24 


278 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

highest effort of reason is to produce doubU 
(See Chap. 1.) It cannot substitute truth foi 
falsehood. 

Conscience is blind. It is a potential force, but 
it follows faith right or wrong, and when faith is 
false it enforces falsehood in the soul. 

Both faith and conscience look to God for au- 
thority ; and until faith sees God in Truth, Con- 
science will not convict the soul of guilt for dis- 
obedience. 

Hence, in the moral culture of the soul, every 
thing depends on the revealment of truth. But 
this truth must come to the soul, not as human 
opinion, or as the utterances of philosophy, but as 
Truth which Faith and Conscience recognize as 
rendered obligatory upon man, by the will and 
authority of God. Without revealed Truth, Reason 
has no data^ Faith is false^ and Conscience is cor- 
rupt. The erring nature of man’s moral powers, 
without Revealed Truth, requires a revelation from 
the Maker. As there can be no moral culture 
with a false faith and a corrupt or dead conscience, 
hence a revelation of objective Truth, rendered 
efficient by the perceived presence and authority 
of God, is a moral necessity^, in order to the culture 
of the human soul. 

But in order to the moral culture of man it is not 
only necessary, as we have seen, that man should 
receive from a personal God, by faith, a revelation 
of Truth ; but certain characteristics in that truth 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 279 

itself are necessary — characteristics which, as we 
shall now show, mark the New Testament as the 
inspired, adapted, and final revelation of God to 
man. 

In view, then, of man’s character and condition, 
notice some characteristics necessary in revealed 
truth, in order to his perfect and ultimate culture. 

A first requisite in the truth itself, in order to 
moral culture, is, that it should be ultimate and 
perfect, so that the standard may always be in ad- 
vance of man’s present attainment; and that it 
should be so revealed as to awaken and encourage 
aspiration and struggle for conformity to the re- 
vealed standard. 

Every one will allow that a determination of the * 
soul from evil to good, and a struggle upward, is 
the only method by which man can possibly attain 
to a better moral condition. 

But in order to awaken interest and promote 
effort for morai advancement, truth must be so 
exhibited as to show us our present moral delin- 
quencies and derelictions. This can be done only by 
presentir^g precept and example w’hich are above 
the present moral condition of the soul. It is self- 
evident that man cannot advance to a higher posi- 
tion until he is convinced that his present state is a 
wrong one, and below attainments which he is 
under moral obligation to make. Divine precept 
and example stand as the embodied model. The 
effort, by Divine aid, for a higher attainment in 


280 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

holy living is the process by which the attainment 
is secured ; and the attainment in which the soul 
finds its happiness in a spirit of love for Christ and 
labor of love for man, is the culture that the soul 
needs; and when divinely illumined by truth, it 
is the culture which the soul seeks. 

Now, do the precepts and examples of the New 
Testament furnish authoritative objective truth of 
this character? Are they such, that while they 
encourage and aid, they will always be in advance 
of the soul, leading it up to moral perfection ? 

About this question there can be no controversy. 
No man dare deny that if the spirit of the New 
Testament prevailed on earth, vice, and crime, and 
* want would cease among men. Neither atheists 
nor sceptics dare deny that the spirit of the Chris- 
tian Scriptures is reverent love for God and self- 
denying, happy love-labor for man. The ultimate 
good of all men can only be attained by those who 
possess good of any kind, denying themselves to 
bring those below them up to the good they enjoy. 
The New Testament spirit and example is a per- 
fect fulfilment of this requirement. It stands alone, 
and high as heaven above every thing else known 
to the human mind in the spirit and practice of- 
self-denying love for the equal temporal and spirit- 
ual good of all men. The devil dare not deny 
that the labor and sacrifice of Christ for the good 
of men is ultimate. Nothing can be higher, holier, 
or in any respect better than the precept, the spirit. 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 281 

and the example of the New Testament. It has 
ever been in advance of human character, and will 
be till the end of time. It is ultimate in spirit, in 
precept, and in example ; and it is not profane to 
say, that, if there be any other revelation, or if God 
give any other, it must be a worse one, because 
there cannot be a better. 

There is another requisite in the character of 
revelation necessary to human culture, which we 
have assumed, but which we will now notice more 
fully. That requisite is, that the ultimate standard 
of duty should be given in the form of example. 

We need to know not only what we ought to 
do, but we need to understand the spirit in which 
a duty should be discharged. A good act may be- 
come evil, and have no influence for moral culture, 
because it is not done in a good spirit. Those who 
have not the Spirit of Christ are none of his. But 
an example of forbearance, of firmness, of self- 
denial, of reproof, of compassion, of forgiveness, of 
the manner of conduct in particular circumstances, 
is necessary, in order to lead men to understand, 
and, by faith, enable them to discharge right duties 
in a right spirit. (See Chap. XVL) 

But example, in order that we may understand 
the motive and the spirit of duty, is necessary in 
another particular. General precepts have specific 
applications ; and the best minds are liable to err 
in the application of general precepts to the varying 
every-day duties of life. Man is so constituted that 
24 * 


282 


PHILOSOPHY OF THE 


perfect knowledge of duty in all specific cases is 
impossible; he needs, therefore, an ever-present 
guide, to which he can refer the decision of what is 
duty in specific cases. There can be no such guide, 
except it be a model character acting in our circum- 
stances, The life of Christ is the infallible standard 
of reference for sinful men acting in a world of sin- 
ners. Suppose an absent father should leave his 
son to manage his affairs during his absence. It 
would be impossible for him to give his son specific 
directions in relation to all cases that might arise 
in the varied duties of the farm during a long ab- 
sence. The son, however, has seen the example of 
his father ; he knows perfectly the motives which 
governed him, and the spirit he manifested. In the 
application, therefore, of his father’s general pre- 
cepts to specific cases, he involuntarily, naturally, 
dutifully asks himself. What would my father do in 
this case ? What would he have me do ? Thus the 
knowledge of his father’s character, life, and spirit, 
guides him in the application of precept to practice ; 
while, at the same time, it reveals the motive and 
the spirit in which the act should be done. 

Other requisites in the character of revealed truth 
might be added to these ; but we will not prolong 
the chapter. We might show that there should 
be elements to awaken hope and courage in those 
who seek the “ mark of the prize of the high cul- 
ture f given in the life and spirit of Jesus ; and that 
these elements accompany the precept of the New 
Testament 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


283 


We might show that the question, “What is 
Truth ? ” on moral subjects, can never be settled in 
any individual mind, except by faith and Divine 
authority, and an ultimate example ; and that these 
are given in the written Scriptures. 

We might show that there can be no culture of 
the soul except the motive to action be benevolent. 
That love^f Christ makes God the motive — takes 
it out of self ; and hence acts for Christ’s sake are 
necessarily unselfish acts, and that unselfish action 
is necessary to moral culture. 

We have, we trust, already said enough to aid 
candid minds to the conclusion that the moral cul- 
ture of the soul must be accomplished by a system 
of Truth, revealed objectively in written language, 
by Divine authority ; and that the Christian Scrip- 
tures contain that system of Truth. 

The Scriptures alone possess the characteristics 
which adapt truth to the ends of moral culture. 
The believer is made humble by the perfection of 
Christ’s example of love, and labor, and sacrifice 
for men — a perfect standard, yet so far in advance 
of his attainment. Gospel faith, which realizes in 
the soul that Christ’s sacrifice was for him, will 
mingle gratitude and love with his humility. The 
offer of aid in the moral conflict, of pardon to the 
penitent, and of divine favor to every one who 
denies himself and exercises a spirit of affectionate 
obedience, inspires hope and courage, and gives 
joy by the way; and, then. Divine Authority, as 


284 PHILOSOPHY OF THE 

well as Divine Love, being in the Truth, these gov- 
ern in harmony the affections^ the conscience^ and 
the will. 

No man can ever make so high an attainment in 
moral culture that Christ will not be before him still, 
as an example and a guide ; and yet no man can 
be so low in moral culture but that the gospel faith 
brings to him hope, impulse, direction, and a spirit- 
ual benediction ; and in whatever stage of progress 
the Christian may be, whether near the beginning 
of the race, or so far advanced that temptation has 
little influence, and habits of holy action are mostly 
confirmed — at whatever stage of attainment those 
who lay aside every known sin, and looking to the 
character of Christ as the goal of moral perfection, 
run with what strength they have for the prize of the 
high calling of God in Christ Jesus — all such will 
receive divine aid and favor by the way.* Progress 
is the order of the moral as well as the physical 

^ The question of perfection, about which good men 
have often misconceived each other, ought to be con- 
sidered obsolete. Men can do what they can do, in the 
circumstances, and God requires no more. The call of 
God is no more. The requirement is not ultimated per- 
fection, but progressive perfection. Men are called to aim 
and strive for the moral perfection set before them in the 
life of Christ ; and he who,* like Paul, is a perfect runner 
toward the goal, is perfect f in one sense ; while not hav- 
ing yet attained the goal, he is imperfect in another. 

t This is the plain and undoubted sense of the Scriptures. (See 
Phil. 3 : 7 — 16.) “ Let us, therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus 
minded.” 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 285 

world ; (see God Revealed in the Process of Crea- 
tion, &c. ;) perfection is its end ; and the mani- 
festation of God in Christ, revealed in the New 
Testament, is a necessary element in order to the 
final consummation. 

Leave, then, reader, the transcendental folly of 
those who would find the perfect character of God 
revealed subjectively in themselves ; or who seek a 
perfect example in an imperfect humanity. Such 
a philosophy is shallow and sinful; it is engendered 
by selfishness in union with aspiring intellect. Its 
glare has poison in it; and it dazzles to blind the 
conceited and superficial thinker. Believe in the 
Lord Jesus — repent from selfishness — cross your 
own will, and follow Christ in filial piety to God 
and love-labor for man, and thou shalt be saved. 


286 


PLAN OF SALVATION. 


CONCLUSION. 

Allow the author to say, in closing, that it is his 
opinion, that in view of the reasonings and facts 
presented in the preceding pages, every individual, 
who reads the book intelligently, and who is in pos- 
session of a sound and unprejudiced reason, will 
come to the conclusion, that the religion of the 
Bible is from God ; and divinely adapted to pro-- 
diice the greatest present and eternal spiritual 
good of the human family. And if any one should 
doubt its Divine origin, (which, in view of its adap- 
tations and its effects as herein developed, would 
involve the absurdity of doubting whether an intel- 
ligent design had an intelligent designer,) still, 
be the origin of the gospel where it may, in heaven, 
earth, or hell, the demonstration is conclusive, that 
it is the only religion possible for man, in order to 
perfect his nature, and restore his lapsed powers to 
harmonv and holiness. 


THE END. 


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